Indian Summer
by One Piece Trash
Summary: It's another year at One Piece high and Luffy is a junior. With a certain teacher eyeing her in ways teachers shouldn't eye their students, she tries to make it through this school year...PLANS FOR UPDATE ON MY PROFILE!
1. The First Day

**Indian Summer|** 1.1 – September 9th, Thursday

Thick and humid air clung to her skin, beads of sweat slowly traveling down the underside of her shirt. Windows hung open allowing only a little of the stiff air to linger in. A clock ticked off somewhere in the distance. It was the first day of class, mid-afternoon, when the sun was at its highest.

The buzzing of the students' voices filled the room. Luffy sat to the back, gazing outside the windows. She placed a palm under her chin and tapped her right foot against the hardwood flooring.

The door opened with a loud click, the bell ending lunch quickly ringing afterwards.

Luffy glanced slowly over to the board, watching as the teacher entered, carrying his lunch pail. "Sorry for being late, class," he said, quieting the students. He placed his items on his desk and looked out at the sea of youth. "It seems you all arrived before I did…" A smile played with his lips.

"The door was opened," a girl with a perky voice quickly said with a grin. Her pink hair shined under the lighting.

_Is that even her real hair color?_ Luffy thought, cocking her head to the side. A singe of jealously ran through her gut, but she pushed the thoughts. _There's no way that it's real…_

Grabbing a blue marker, the teacher approached the white board and slowly wrote out _Anatomy._ Placing the marker down and turning to the class, he said, "This is Anatomy, a college level course. Don't expect this to be an easy A. You will have to put in a lot of work and study time to pass this course."

A grumble of moans and sighs traveled throughout the class.

Cocking a thin black brow, the teacher smirked. "You all signed up for this…you still have time to drop the class if you feel _uncertain_." Approaching his desk, the teacher grabbed a stack of papers and handed them to the first student in the front.

"Take one and pass it down," he whispered to the boy whom Luffy had known. _Zoro…_ She had been the last one there, with most seats taken, and so she couldn't sit next to her friend. "This is the syllabus," the teacher explained, taking one copy for himself. "Once you get a copy, please take a moment to read over it."

The stacks were quickly passed out, with Luffy getting the last of the copies. She placed the extras on the corner of her desk and shifted in her seat to get a better look at her own. _Anatomy…Instructor: Trafalgar Law…Period Five…_ She went on to read about the general goals of the class and what is expected of the students.

After a few minutes had passed, and most students had looked about the room to imply they were finished, the teacher smiled and said, "Well, let me introduce myself." Placing a hand—which, to Luffy's surprise, was tatted—to his chest. "My name is Trafalgar Law. I don't mind formalities…you may call me Mr. Trafalgar or Law, whichever is more comfortable for you. This is my third year at One Piece High, but I interned as a professor at New World University for a year prior to taking a position here."

He went to his desk and retrieved a sheet. "When I call your name, please acknowledge your presence and state one thing about yourself." And so Law went down the list, slowly reading the names off and smiling when each student recited random facts.

"Jewelry Bonney?" he asked.

The pink haired girl from earlier quickly raised her hand. "Here!" she chirped, smiling. "A fact about me…" she muttered, "…would be…hmm…I really enjoy eating."

The teacher laughed along with a few other students. "Any favorite dish in particular, Bonney?"

Nodding her head, she answered with, "Pizza! I love it so much." She rubbed her hands together and laughed when a few students giggled at her admiration.

"I'm more of a rice man, myself," Law commented. "Alright…who's next? Ah, Roronoa Zoro?"

Luffy's green-haired friend lifted his head. Law nodded. "Well?"

"Hmm?" Zoro muttered.

Flattening the paper out on his own desk, Law asked, "Anything you'd like to share?"

"Oh…" Zoro glanced about. "I guess I'm not the best with maps."

"Interesting," Law stated, reading down the list. He called out a few other names, some familiar, some new, and some she vaguely remembered from years past. When he got to her name, however, Luffy quickly perked up and said, "Here!"

Lifting his stare from the paper to the back of the room, the teacher smiled warmly. "Yes, Miss. Monkey…all the way back there…what would you like to share with the class?"

"Like what?" she questioned, folding her hands upon her lap.

"Well," Law began, "anything you desire. A silly little fact or maybe your deepest darkest secret?" A few students laughed.

Luffy blushed. "Well…Bonney isn't the only one here who really likes food."

Law smiled and laughed quietly. "It seems the ladies of this class are the eaters. We shall need to plan a party soon, perhaps at the end of the first quarter." That got the students excitedly talking. "_That_ is, of course, if you all do well on your first round of quarter finals." A few unsure mutters were heard after that.

"That seems to be the last of introductions," Law noted as he read down the list once more. Placing it to the side, he lifted up a text book. "See this?" he asked, waving it around. "Make sure to pick it up whenever you go to the library. Make sure it's _this_ edition, not the Biology one."

He moved on. "We'll start with a basic orientation of the human body tomorrow, so try to get the textbook by that time." He glanced at the clock. "For now, if there aren't any questions, why don't you take a few moments to get to know your fellow classmates?" With a dismissive smile, Law turned to his computer, fingers typing away on the keyboard.

The chitter chatter of young voices filled the room once again. Luffy stretched out in her seat and waved once Zoro glanced back. She motioned for him to walk over to her. He glanced awkwardly back at the teacher and slowly arose. When nothing was said about it, he quickly went back to her.

"You should've got here earlier," Zoro said as he took a seat next to her. "Could've got the seat up front if you did…now I'm all by myself, and really close to the teacher's desk."

Luffy laughed quietly. "I'm sorry," she said shrugging her arms. "I was caught up in my meal…"

"That's nothing new, Luffy," Zoro sneered.

"I'll try to get here early tomorrow," she offered. "Anyway, where were you during lunch? You didn't meet up in our groups usually spot." She frowned.

"I…got lost…" Zoro turned a soft shade of pink in the cheeks. "I'm going to have to figure out a quick path from my fourth period to the meet up…"

"You do that," Luffy ordered calmly. "What's your schedule anyway?"

Zoro pulled a paper out of his pocket, unfolding it and handing it to her. She read it slowly. _Period One…Gym. Period Two…Geometry. Period three…Film. Four…English. Five…Anatomy. Six…World History._ Blinking, she looked up at him. "Oh, you have gym with Sanji?"

Zoro frowned. "Unfortunately."

She cocked her head to the side. "He didn't mention you when telling me his schedule…" _I don't get why those two don't get along…_ "You also have Vivi and Usopp for World History…" She handed his paper to him.

Taking it, he asked, "You didn't spot any you have as well?"

"No," she softly said. "The only class I have with somebody from our group beside this one is Gym with Nami, sixth period."

"Oh," Zoro commented. "Too bad." He shrugged his shoulders and glanced back at the teacher. "I think I should go back to my seat…the teacher is getting up."

Nodding, Luffy waved goodbye as Zoro quickly returned to the front of class.

"It's been about ten or so minutes…" Law began. "Enough time to chit chat, yes? I have no homework for tonight, except just getting your required text. Look over the syllabus once again tonight and make sure to consider dropping the class if you're uncertainty about staying."

The bell rang. "Have a good day, students," Law smiled, watching as the students quickly got up and made it for the door.

Luffy got her bag and flung it over her shoulder. Before continuing on, she grabbed the stack of extra papers and slowly approached Law's desk. "Uhh…" she held the stacks out when he glanced up at her.

"Oh," he said softly, taking them. "Thank you...uh, Luffy, was it?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yes."

"Good. I must admit, it can be hard remembering students' names at times, but I'm pretty sure I'll remember yours." He placed the papers on his desk and folded his hands together. "Hurry along…don't want you late for your last class."

"Bye," she said, hurrying out the door. Her skirt waved back and forth and she never noticed the eyes watching her from behind. She was the last one out.

Zoro stood outside the door, waiting for her. "Took you long enough," he joked as he walked with her. "I'll see you later, alright?"

"Sure," she said, waving goodbye to him as she left for the gym.

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**To be continued…**

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**Next time:** Luffy picks out a sport for gym. She meets some guys on the football team. Her brother gives her a ride home.

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**A/n: **Haha, hey! So, I was originally going to have this with regular male luffy, but certain things wouldn't have worked out (I don't want to give away future plot) if he was a male, so I had to make him Fem!Luffy. I also want to say that dark/mature themes will be explored in this story… Another thing is that I'm going to separate sections based on date. For example, chapters 1.1, 1.2, etc. would be of September 9th, while 2.1, 2.2, etc. would be of September 1oth, and so on. Thanks for checking this out! I hope you enjoy this ride!

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**Summary:** It's another year at One Piece high and Luffy is a junior. She learns and experiences heartbreaking events and is forced to grow up sooner than she expected. With a certain teacher eyeing her in ways teachers shouldn't eye their students, she _tries_ to make it through this school year. A certain hot-tempered red-head doesn't help the matter when he torments her, and a friendly green-haired boy is desperate for her to notice him.


	2. Picking a Sport

**Indian Summer|** 1.2

"_Nami!_" Luffy cried out, waving her hand quickly in greeting as she ran after the taller girl. "Wait up," she huffed when she caught up to her friend, smiling.

"Luffy!" Nami squeaked, hugging the younger girl tightly. "Where did you come from now?"

"Anatomy," she answered.

Nami frowned. "Isn't that class really hard?" she asked, cocking her head as she lead them towards the gym entrance. "I heard bad stories about it…"

"The teacher said it's tough…" Luffy mentioned, "…but I hope it isn't _as_ bad as some say."

Patting Luffy on the head, Nami laughed and said, "You should have just taken Biology with Vegapunk. He's super easy!"

When they reached the front doors, Luffy quickly pulled one open and smiled when Nami scooted in. "Ace has him this year for biology, I think," she said, following the orange-headed girl. The door slowly closed behind them. "Let's go sit up there!" she said, pointing to the highest level of bleachers.

"That's a lot of steps…" Nami commented quietly, a small frown forming. She gasped when Luffy took her hand and lead her towards them anyway. "Uhh…okay, Luffy, lead the way…"

Nami was out of breath by the time they got to the top. "This gym is _too_ big," she huffed, flopping over a seat and resting her head on Luffy's shoulder. "You're a natural born runner, aren't you?" she asked.

"Maybe," Luffy answered, shrugging her shoulders gently. "That sort of stuff doesn't bother me as much as it gets to you…"

Nami slapped her shoulder. "I'm not that bad…I just get tired easily."

"Sure," Luffy giggled. She glanced down to the gym floor, watching as students wondered about. "What sport are you going to sign up for?"

"I don't know," Nami whined quietly. "Something easy…where I don't have to do much. What about you?"

She glanced back at her friend. "I'm not sure either. I was thinking of cheerleading—"

Nami's laughter interrupted her sentence. "_You_…a _cheerleader_?" Her face turned a slight shade of red from all the laughter. "That would be so funny..." Her eyes gleamed. "You out there, screaming your lungs out…it'll be the greatest thing ever."

"You only say that because you think it's funny," Luffy snapped, pouting. "I'm serious here! I really like the idea of cheerleading…I don't know, it's just something about cheering on the team and being out there and giving everything you got."

Nami shook her head slowly. "I'm telling ya, it's a different world with cheerleaders. They're _evil_." She wiggled her fingers at Luffy and made whooshing sounds. "_Evvvvvvil_," she repeated in a deep voice.

Giggling, Luffy blushed.

The doors opened once more and a group of men entered, dressed in shorts and t-shirts. Some had whistles, some had clipboards, and some had sun-visors.

"Alright!" one yelled out. "Everybody sit down on the bleachers while we set the tables up."

Students quickly found seats, but the buzzing of conversation continued on.

"That's Coach Blackbeard," Luffy said, pointing to the one who had first talked. "He's the football coach…"

"Looks mean," Nami whimpered. "And kinda ugly." She giggled to herself. "The real hottie here is Doflamingo."

"Who's that?"

Nami lifted a slender finger and pointed towards a tall blonde man. "See him over there, in the pink shorts?"

"Yeah."

"That's him," she said. "He's the track coach. I would totally take his class if it didn't involve running." She pouted and wiped away an imaginary tear. "Who's the coach for cheerleading, by the way?"

Luffy smiled. "It's Hancock. I've heard so much about her and how wonderfully beautiful she's supposed to be."

"_Hancock?_" Nami muttered. "I think I saw her before, at one of the games…she is pretty…"

"What are you going to take then?" Luffy asked as the rest of the teachers began to occupy the empty desks on the gym floor. She watched as Coach Blackbeard approached the center, checking his pockets real quick.

"I'm thinking volleyball," Nami whispered.

"_**SHUTUP EVERYBODY!**_" Blackbeard ordered, blowing his whistle afterwards. A sharp and stinging sound erupted throughout the gym and students winced as they covered their ears. "Alright," he said, allowing the whistle to fall from his lips. "It's time for you all to choose classes for sport. Don't rush up to us at once…keep everything clean and organized. I want to get this finished as soon as possible."

He nodded and approached his desk while looking to Doflamingo. "And it begins," he sighed, causing the other coach to laugh loudly.

"Come on," Luffy chirped as she jumped up and ran down the stairs, Nami whining from her seat. She didn't wait for her friend to catch up. _I need to get a spot on the cheerleading team before it fills up!_

Pausing to collect herself, she slowly crossed the floor and approached the already long line of ladies waiting to chat with Coach Hancock. Luffy took a spot in the back and cocked a brow as she peered over to see the older woman talking to a student. Her legs were crossed and an annoyed expression was written all over her face. _She looks…mad…_

"Next," the female coach boomed, waving her hand at the girl she had talked to.

The line moved forward.

"Don't even bother!" Hancock growled, waving her hand again to dismiss the next girl. "Come on!" she yelled. "I'm looking for people who _really _want this!"

And so the line quickly moved and soon Luffy was next, smiling as she faced the coach. "Hello!" she blurted. "I'm Luffy, and I want this more than anything!"

"Uhh…" Hancock said, smirking. "That's good you introduced yourself without me asking…shows me you're willing to step up for what you want. Why do you deserve a position on my team?"

"Because I _promise_ you that I'll be the best out there!" Luffy stated, clamping her fist shut. "You'll get the very best outta me!"

Hancock laughed quietly. "Such determination…" She pushed a sheet of paper across the desk with one long finger. "Alright, I'm sold. Show up at this location on this date for try outs."

Luffy slowly took the paper, grin growing bigger and bigger.

"Don't disappoint me at try outs, alright?" the woman asked, crossing her arms and smirking. "You did promise me the very best."

"Don't you worry about it," Luffy happily said, nodding before quickly leaving. She clutched the paper to her chest, warmth crawling across her cheeks. _Step one is complete,_ she thought happily. Tucking the paper into her bag, she glanced about for Nami.

_Where's the volleyball line…?_

"Luffy!" a voice called out from the right. She turned to face the bottom level of bleachers. Her brother was waving at her, motioning for her to come to him.

"Hi, Ace," she said, glancing about the group of boys that sat around him. "What are you doing here?"

"I have football for sixth, remember?" Ace said. "Give me your schedule." He held out his palm.

She took out her paperwork and gave it to him. "Here," she said.

He slowly read it. "_Boooo_," he laughed. "These classes are too boring." The paper was tossed back to her. "You got Trafalgar…I heard his class can be a total bitch to pass."

Luffy nodded. "So I've heard all day…"

"Pick a class yet for sports?" Ace asked, looking past her at the tables. "We can head home once you're done I think…"

"Oh, yeah, I already got one," she mumbled. "We can leave now I guess…" She looked back and scanned for Nami. _Where did that girl go?_

"Sweet," Ace said. "Alright, let's go." He got up and motioned at the blonde who sat next to him. "By the way, Marco is coming home with us. Freaking math teacher already assigned us homework, on the first day!" He sighed when his friend laughed.

"Your brother isn't very good at math," he said.

"Oh, I know that already," Luffy giggled.

Ace socked Marco on the arm. "Shut up you two," he growled. "Let's just go already!"

Marco laughed. "Fine, fine…"

"Okay," Luffy joined in on the laugh. "But can I first find Nami? Can you drive her over to our house too?"

Rolling his eyes, Ace slowly said, "Sure. But hurry!"

Luffy nodded and quickly ran off into the sea of students. Her eyes darted right and left, scanning for orange hair. She hardly even noticed the person she ran straight into, knocking both over.

"What the hell…?" a voice mumbled under her.

Turning red and she pulled her skirt down because it had hiked up during the fall. She pushed herself up and mumbled many apologizes. "I'm so sorry," she whimpered, watching the boy as he rubbed his face and push his green locks back.

"Man…who the hell…" He looked up, eyes growing wide. His mouth opened but nothing came out.

"I have to go," she said before leaving.

The boy turned his head to watch her, cheeks blushing. "That girl…" he mumbled.

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**To be continued…**

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**Next Time:** Dinner at Luffy's house. Nami and Luffy gossip and share secrets. Luffy gets a friend request from somebody .

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**A/N:** *Le Gasp* Whomever could that green-haired boy be? xD

**Also, very important:** I upload three chapters every week (about 3,ooo - 5,ooo words total). Would you guys rather have updates three days in a row (Fridays - Sundays) or with days in between (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?) It's up to you guys, and I can do it either way. :)

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A huge shoutout to my newest followers, and my reviewers (StariChanx, Nakcabttak2, motherloosegoose, and 0Chrissie0)! Thank you so much guys!


	3. A Friend Request

**Indian Summer|** 1.3

The car's breaks creaked when Ace pulled up in the driveway. To her left, Luffy could see her friend wince over the sound.

"Ace…" Nami said, covering her ears. "That's horrible. Do something about your car!"

Luffy's brother shifted in his seat to look back at the girls. "Unless you got the money to fix it, I don't have a problem with squeaky breaks."

Marco laughed from the passenger's seat, opening his door. Before closing it, he joked, "You'll really have a problem when the breaks go out while you're driving."

"Hey!" Ace called out, getting out of the car. "Don't freaking jinx it!" The two older boys continued for the front door, leaving the two girls behind in the car.

Smiling, Luffy looked to Nami. "What do you want to do?"

The older girl took her bag and moved to get out of the car. "Let's just go to your room first, alright?"

"Okay!" Luffy said as she followed Nami out and towards the house. Ace had left the door wide open for them. Once entering, they could hear mumbled noises from the living room. _Probably playing video games instead of doing their math homework…_

Luffy took Nami's hand and lead her up the stairs and down the hallway towards her room. It was the smallest bedroom in the two-story house, but it was in no way puny. There was enough space for a growing girl, room for a nice sized bed, a desk, closet space, and just a bit extra for whatever she deemed necessary.

Taking a seat on the corner of her bed, she watched as Nami tossed her stuff on the desk and glanced about. "I always liked your room, Luffy," she had said, placing a hand under her chin. "I think it's the wall coloring…I might get that shade for my own one day."

Luffy smiled. "That would be cool."

"Yes…" Nami went to the window. "So…any news?"

"About?"

Nami pulled the curtains back and peeped down. "Anything, really…"

"Oh…" Luffy lifted a brow and thought. "Well, no…nothing I can think of."

"Boo," Nami frowned, looking back at her. "Any hot guys catch your fancy?" She laughed after saying that. She quickly tackled the bed and took Luffy's pillow for her own, clutching it to her chest.

Luffy blushed. "Oh…uh…no…" She glanced down at her friend.

"Come on," Nami pressed. "There has to be at least _one_!"

_She won't stop bugging you until you say something…just tell her a name, any name!_

"Well," she mumbled, "I guess one of my teachers isn't that bad to look at…"

Nami's eyes grew wide. "Luffy!" she gasped, smiling a wicked smile. "That is so scandalous!" She wiggled in closer to her, and whispering, she asked, "Who?"

Rolling her eyes, Luffy mumbled out one name and one name only. "_Trafalgar._"

"_TRAFALGAR?_" Nami screeched, mouth hanging wide open.

Luffy gently hit her arm. "Shush, don't scream like that!"

Nami nodded her head quickly. "Aye, aye, sure, whatever…but why _him_? I mean, _yeah_, he's _okay_, but he's nothing compared to McHottie Doflamingo!"

"Eww…" Luffy muttered. "Trafalgar is one-hundred times hotter than Doflamingo."

A fire grew in Nami's eyes.

"Uhh…I mean…he's just as good as Doflamingo?" Luffy said, trying to calm the anger brewing in her friend's eyes.

"Luffy," Nami sternly said, "having a crush on a teacher is a precious thing. You can't just like anyone of them; you have to find the perfect one." Her hands clasped together against her chest and her eyes flutter shut. "Just like Coach Doflamingo~"

"Okay, first, it's not a crush," Luffy corrected. "Second, you're a bit obsessive over the coach."

Nami giggled. "He's super rich, I once heard."

"Who? Trafalgar?"

"No!" Nami hit her friend on the arm. "Doflamingo! I even saw him drive a sports car to school once."

And then it clicked. _Nami…will grow up to be a gold-digger, I just know it._

A quite buzz erupted inside her bag, causing her to jump up and glance down.

"What is that?" Nami asked, looking down as well. "Did you phone go off?"

Luffy knelt over and retrieved her bag. "I think so," she mumbled as she fished around inside. Pulling out the black cellular device, she swiped it open and saw she got one new notification.

_One new friend request!_

She pressed it with her thumb and cocked her head when she was greeted with the image of somebody she didn't recognize. "…?"

"Well, what is it?" Nami asked, flopping back on the bed to lie down.

"It's a friend request," she explained, gazing at the image long and hard. "But…I don't know who this guy is."

"Here, give me." Nami reached out her hand and took the phone. "Hmm…I don't know him either. Looks like a weirdo, and that nose ring doesn't work _at all._"

Luffy took the device back. "Wait…" _Isn't that the boy…from earlier?_ "I think I know him…well, not know _know_ him, but I saw him today."

"Oh really?"

"Yes…I bumped into him while looking for you."

"And did you two talk?"

Luffy shook her head no. "I only apologized and left after that."

"Oh," Nami laughed. "So no words were really exchanged…but he feels that's enough to send you a friend request? Total creeper, Luffy. Decline it!"

"No…that would be mean…" Her finger hovered over the accept button.

"Luffy," Nami whined. "Decline it!"

She accepted it. A little happy face appeared on her phone. _Congrats! You've added on new contact!_

"Did you…accept it?" Nami gasped.

Luffy nodded yes.

Face-palming herself, Nami muttered, "Watch and see. He'll just end up being some annoying dude who needs to go away."

Luffy laughed. "Calm down."

"What's his name anyways?"

She glanced down at the phone and selected the profile of her new contact. "It says…_Bartolomeo_."

"That's a weird name…" Nami commented. "Kind of hard to pronounce, huh?"

The sound of the front door opening filled her room. "Oh," she happily said, "I think gramps is here…with food!" Her eyes glistened as she quickly jumped off the bed and jolted out of the room.

"Hey! Wait up!" Nami cried out.

"Gramps!" Luffy greeted, throwing her arms around the old man. "What did you bring home to eat tonight?"

Ace was right behind her. "Yeah, what cha bring, huh?"

"Freaking vultures, the lot of you!" the old man growled, waving the two away from him as he entered the kitchen. "No _how was your day at work, grandfather? Oh, are you tired, grandfather, would you like to rest for a moment? Do you need help with anything, grandfather…_No, all I get is _GIMMIE FOOD!"_

He dropped a clear white bag onto the counter. "There's your damn food, enough for you and your guests as it would appear." He peered past his hungry grandchildren to see one boy and one girl.

"It would have been nice if you asked first if your friends could come over," the old man muttered, leaving the kitchen.

"Love you, gramps!" Ace called out, taking his food and handing some over to Marco.

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed as she too did the same. Sitting down at the table, she watched as Nami picked through what was left of the Chinese food. She rolled her fork around in the noodles and brought it to her lips.

Nami took a seat next to her and began to chow down on the chicken. "Anyways," she began, "you better tell me if that Meo dude ever texts you."

"I doubt he will…why would he?"

"'cause he's trying to get at that ass, girl," Nami said, laughing.

Luffy blushed and giggled along.

"SHUT UP," Ace yelled from the living room. "Trying to play some freaking games here."

"You're just pissy because I keep beating you," Marco laughed.

"NO," Ace responded.

The two entered into an argument.

Nami shook her head slowly. "To think they're older than us…" She glanced back at Luffy and her eyes went wide in horror. "You're already on your second serving?!"

"Oh," Luffy giggled. "This is my third!"

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**To be continued…**

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**Next time/coming up:** Luffy begins to meet new faces and reunite with old ones on her second day of school. She runs into Bartolomeo. Trafalgar tells her of a special study group.

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**Review Questions from previous chapters:**

**Nastya**: Yes, Sabo is totally going to appear. I have plans for him to appear soonish...at least before the tenth upload. (Maybe six/seven...)

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**Thanks** **to my followers, favers, and to those who reviewed chapter two and any new reviewers (**Nastya, motherloosegoose, Erin A. Lasgalen, StariChanx, and 0Chrissie0**)! Thank you so much for reading!**


	4. Law Creeping in the Library

**Indian Summer|** 2.1 – September 1oth, Friday

Even though it was early morning, the air had already grown hot by the time they arrived at school. Luffy clutched her neck, rubbing away a bead of sweat.

"It's so hot," she muttered to Ace, who was paying attention to one of the senior girls walking by.

"Yes…" Ace quietly responded, eyes glued on a round behind. "…so hot…"

Luffy rolled her eyes as she undid the top button of her shirt. The collar kept scraping against her neck, and loosening it as such made the hot summer air a little bit more bearable. "I need to go get my textbooks," she told him, waving at him and sighing when he wasn't looking her way. "Bye!" she huffed, hitting his arm.

He glanced at her for only a second. "Sure, bye," he mumbled as he pushed his hand into her face and rubbed it, messing her hair up.

She smacked it away and frowned. "I hate when you do that!"

"I thought you were leaving?" he asked, looking back for the senior girl. "I…need to go find that chick." His eyes were alit as he left, quickly looking back and forth.

_He can be the worst sometimes!_

Luffy found her way to the library, frowning at how empty it was. She was hoping to find an aid to help find her books, but it appeared that what little of them was available were already aiding the other students. Taking out her schedule, she began to read down the list.

_Intermediate Algebra…third edition…check!_ She took a book when she found it.

_English Literature…second edition…check!_ She also took that book when she found it.

_You only need one more textbook actually…Anatomy…_Glancing about, she smiled when she saw the small stack of anatomy books. She took one and cried out when the weight of the books caused her to fall down.

"Ow…" she whimpered, rubbing her knee.

"Are you alright?" a voice whispered to her right.

Luffy turned her attention to meet a set of cool grey eyes. "Oh…Mr. Trafalgar…yeah, I'm okay." She collected her first two books and went for her third.

"Let me," he said, taking the anatomy book and standing up. He offered her his hand and after a brief moment's hesitance, she took it. His grip was strong.

"T-thank you," she mumbled as he handed her the anatomy book. She clutched it tightly along with the others and looked away quickly.

He tucked a hand in his pants pocket. "You should check out your knee if it gives you any problems today…that was quite a fall…"

"Oh…" she looked down at her knees. "It only stings a little…"

"Ice should fix that right up," he suggested. "Be careful next time, alright?"

Looking up to meet his eyes again, she smiled and said, "Of course…thank you."

A smirk crept across his face. "See you later, Miss. Monkey." He nodded a goodbye and left towards the back of the library.

_He is so nice…_

She turned a bright red when she realized she had been watching his back…more specifically, his butt. Looking away, she quickly headed towards the librarian counter to check out her books. _Don't turn into a teacher-creeper like Nami!_ She mentally ordered herself.

* * *

First period came and went pretty fast. The teacher—Mrs. Tashigi—was somewhat of the nervous type on the first day, but she composed herself nicely by the second day. She had given them a quick lecture on basic writing, and had asked them to write her an essay about themselves over the weekend.

"Nothing long or over-complicated," she had explained from her desk. "Don't write about anything you're not comfortable enough with sharing. This is just a fun little exercise to warm up your writing skills as well as allow me to get to know you all." She smiled warmly at her students.

"For now, just work on outlines for the rest of the period."

Luffy pulled out her binder and fumbled around for a sheet of paper. Once finding one, she began to scribble down random ideas.

The person sitting to her left, tapped on her desk. "Umm…excuse," she mumbled quietly as Luffy turned to look at her. "Do you mind if I have one of those…a piece of paper…I forgot mine at home."

"Oh," Luffy responded. "Sure." She handed the girl a few pieces of paper. "There you go," she smiled.

"Thank you!" the girl said. She tucked a piece of raven colored hair behind her ear. "I'm Violet, by the way."

"I'm Luffy," Luffy said. "I never seen you before to be honest…are you new?"

"Yes," the girl grinned. "This is my first year here." She wrote down her name on her paper. "Actually, you're the first person I've talked to…it's so hard meeting new people…"

Luffy smiled warmly. "It'll be okay," she said. "You'll meet tons of people here and make lots of friends. Hey, look, you already met me and I'd love to be friends."

Violet blushed and giggled quietly. "Okay," she smiled.

"Girls…" Tashigi called out from her desk, causing both of them to look her way. "It's okay to chit chat, but I'd love it if you actually worked on the essay while doing so. If you can't do that, then there is no need to talk."

"Sorry," they muttered back.

Luffy returned to writing her essay and sent a quick glance over to Violet, catching her stare before smiling.

* * *

"You're taking gym for sixth?" Luffy asked happily as the two exited their first period class.

Nodding, Violet happily said, "Yes! I signed up for volleyball…what about you?"

"Cheerleading," Luffy answered pouting. _I hope somebody else that I know signed up for that class…_ "My friend is taking volleyball, actually. You'll love her…she may be hard to bare at times, but she'll come out as a great friend."

"That sounds lovely!" Violet said. "I can't wait to meet her."

Luffy grinned. "You should eat lunch with us today! You know where the tree line is?"

"I…think so…where all those cherry trees are?"

"Yes!" Luffy answered excitedly. "That's where my group eats for lunch. You should totally come today!"

"Alright!" Violet blushed again. "You're being so kind…thank you."

"No problem," she said, slipping her arm through Violet's and locking them together. "Come on, I'll walk you to your second period…it's right next to mine!"

* * *

The room was air conditioned, dark, and quite huge. It was designed just like a theater…or a mini one at least. She glanced up at the huge screen at the front of the class.

The previous day, they had class outside; therefore she never got to see the inside of it. The teacher—Mr. Bon Clay—said that they were installing an impressive new screen, so they had to wait outside until tomorrow.

And tomorrow had come.

The screen was indeed quite impressive.

She found a seat in the front and placed her items underneath, watching her fellow classmates enter. They ranged from freshmen to seniors, with only a couple of other juniors. Glancing around, she searched for anybody she knew, to which, unfortunately, she found none.

The bell rang and the clapping of hands erupted from behind the screen.

"_Alright, children, alright_!" the teacher sang, ending the clap. "Everybody sit down…yes, good! Are we ready for our first film, yes? Good!" He twirled around and pointed a finger towards the light switch.

"Lights!" he cried out.

When nothing happened, he slumped over and pouted. "_Children_," he whined, "when Mr. Bon Clay cries out _lights_, one of you must turn the lights off." He lifted up his finger and pointed once more. "Let's try this again…_lights_!"

Awkwardly looking around first, Luffy slowly got up from her seat and made her way over to the light switches—which were placed right next to the entrance. She flipped it off and glanced at Bon Clay.

His hands found each other across his chest. "_Wonderful!_" he sang sweetly. He wiggled his fingers at her. "As long as you sit in the front, you shall be my adorable little light girl!"

"…" She cocked a brow in response.

Pounding erupted on the door next to her, causing her to gasp and jump up.

"Oh dear," Bon Clay muttered. "Such noise…open it please?"

Nodding, Luffy quickly pulled down on the door handle and pushed back, light flooding the dark room. She looked up to meet cold amber eyes.

Moving aside, she allowed the male to enter, his gelled up red hair barely missing the top of the door frame. He didn't even bother to look twice at her.

Closing the door once he entered, she quickly took her seat in the front.

The teacher placed a hand on his hip and frowned. "You a student, huh?"

"Yeah," the boy said coolly, glancing around and smirking.

"You're late," Bon Clay countered. "Go to tardy sweep."

"Ain't no tardy sweep today," the boy argued.

Rolling his eyes, Bon Clay pointed out to the seats. "Go find one…and hurry! I have a class to teach, young man!"

"Whatever," the boy muttered, walking past them and down the middle isle way. Luffy glanced back and saw he took the last row.

"_Alright!_" Bon Clay said, waving his hands. "Movie time, yes? Are we excited, yes? Good!" He twirled around once more and skipped over towards the DVD player. Pressing the play button, he smiled and pointed to the screen. "Take notes on the plot, actors, directing style, lighting, and anything else you find interesting!"

After an hour had passed, Luffy lost in the film, the lights were flipped on abruptly. She blinked away some tears from the sudden change and winced when the teacher floated over to the DVD player, turning the film off.

"Class is almost over, children!" he said. "We'll finish this up next week, but try to start your essays this weekend, yes? Good!"

When the bell rang out, Luffy quickly collected her stuff, placing away her notebook and pens. She waited for the first sea of students to leave before getting up and heading for the door. Opening the door slightly enough for her to slip through, she gasped when the door was retched from her grip and slammed open.

Glancing back with wide eyes, she looked up at the red-headed kid.

"You were going to slow," he told her as he pushed past. "I ain't got time for people who go to slow."

"…" She watched him walk away from the theater building.

_Jerk!_ Luffy wanted to scream the word at him, but she knew better. Those types of guys didn't have a problem with fighting back, and to be honest, she feared him just on appearance alone. Shaking her head, she headed to her next class.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Two students join Luffy's cooking class: one she knows well, another she just met…sort of. Doflamingo is angry with a certain anatomy teacher. Trafalgar tells Luffy of a special study group for Anatomy.

* * *

**A/N**: The point of this chapter (and next chapter) is to give an insight to what classes Luffy has and to introduce characters. I'm not going to cover Luffy's third period anytime soon because I don't really have any important events happening there, so I'll just say that her third period is Intermediate Algebra.

**Also**, I made a **DeviantArt** page for my ff stories, and a link can be found on my profile, with horribly drawn doodles I drew of the characters and random info. If you have a DA, totally hit me up there so I can follow you and we can chat.

**I'm not going to upload any chapters from 5/26/2014 - 5/30/2014 (Next Week) due to my brain being fried from finals and my wrist hurting a little bit from writing a ton of reports.**

* * *

**Guest review responses:**

**nathalie8756** \- Aw, thank you so much! And yes, I had plans of introducing Shirahoshi but I wasn't sure what I want to do with her, but now you've given me a great idea. Yes, Shirahoshi will be on the cheerleading team now! Thank you!

* * *

**Thank you to all my followers, favers, reviewers of chapter three and any new ones (**nakcabttak2, iilLurvePancakesii, StariChanx, 0Chrissie0, Guest, motherloosegoose, and nathalie8756)**! Thank you all so much for reading!**


	5. Cooking with Bartolomeo

***I know I said I would wait til 6/2/2014 to return to updating, but you guys really wanted it now. xD So here, haha. **

**Indian Summer|** 2.2

She was given an apron upon the arrival of fourth period. Taking it, she slowly went to one of the counters—a desk that was converted to a typical kitchen prep station. Placing her items into a small cupboard, she slipped the apron on and waited.

The teacher smiled as each student entered and took an apron. "Come on," he said calmly. "We need to start cooking as _soon_ as possible!"

"Already got my own," one of them said as he pushed past the line of students.

"Over achiever, huh?" the teacher smirked, watching the boy move towards the counters.

"I take cooking very seriously," he responded.

Luffy's eyes went wide.

"Sanji!" she called out, waving her hands when he looked her way. "Over here!"

The young blonde smiled, holding out his arms as he quickly walked over to the girl. Embracing her, he happily said, "Luffy! You have this class?"

"Yes," she answered when he let go. "I didn't know you had it as well…I mean, you weren't even here yesterday…"

"Yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. "Stupid administration placed me in basket weaving when I clearly told them I wanted cooking." He huffed and looked back at the teacher. "I was able to talk them into changing my schedule around so I could get this class, but I wasn't able to switch gym up so I don't have to take it with that idiot Zoro."

"Too bad you couldn't take it with me and Nami," Luffy said, sitting down on a stool near her kitchen station. "Here, sit right here so we can be teammates!"

Sanji took a seat and narrowed his eyes. "Both…you _and_ Nami…in gym together?" His eyes seemed to tear up. "The world is cruel."

"Yeah," she said, pulling out a spatula and waving it round playfully. "She got volleyball—"

Sanji chocked on his spit. "Nami…playing volleyball? Jumping around…and…and…and…" He trailed off and his face turned pink.

_He'll get another nosebleed if he continues to think like that…_

His fist came down on the counter, surprising her and nearby students. "I swear," he spoke sternly, "I shall get gym for sixth, even if it's the last thing I do!"

Luffy shook her head slowly, embarrassed for him. "You do that, Sanji," she laughed quietly.

"Come on!" the teacher loudly said to the very last student. "Don't be shy, take one."

"Uhh…" the student blinked and took the apron. He approached the front of the room and looked around, eyes slowly falling dead center on Luffy.

_That's…_

"Take a seat!" the teacher ordered from behind the boy, causing him to break his stare on Luffy and jump up in surprise. He quickly went over to the counter next to Luffy and Sanji's station.

His cheeks were pinkish.

While the teacher talked about the item they were going to prepare, she watched the boy fumble around with the apron, sighing when he finally got it on. He pushed his hair back and slowly glanced over at her, eyes going wide when they met. Coughing, he quickly looked forward.

"Luffy…? Monkey D. Luffy?" a voice called out from the front. Sanji elbowed her and she looked up.

"Uh…yes?" she answered.

"Please answer the next time I call your name for roll, alright?" the teacher asked, waving his roll sheet.

"Sorry," she mumbled, folding her hands together over her chin. _You should pay attention more…_

When he finished calling out for students, the teacher—Mr. Zeff Luffy had learned when Sanji whispered it to her during his lecture—pointed to the white board. "We're keeping it simple for now," he explained. "I want you to make scrambled eggs…not too hard, alright?" He proceeded to show the students how to prep the kitchen stations and how to properly set up the eggs upon the frying pan.

Sanji went to the fridge and removed four eggs, enough for two servings—one for him, one for her. He handed her two and she began to crack them, pouring the gooey insides into a bowl while her partner did the same with his.

"This is so easy," Sanji said, quickly taking the bowl and whipping the eggs.

Luffy frowned. "Not all of us are naturals at cooking…"

Sanji smiled sweetly. "I can teach you, Luffy~" Before she had to chance to object, he had already grabbed her hand and placed it on the whisk, with his hand gently on top of hers. Narrowing her eyes, she frowned when he began to twirl her hand around which in turn, turned the eggs.

"Just like that," Sanji smiled, face full of excitement. He took in a deep breath.

_Did…he just smell my hair?_ A shiver ran up her spine.

His other hand slithered over to her free hand, leading her to grab both ends of the bowl. "Now just tip it over into the frying pan…yes…just like that…"

Pushing herself away from her friend, she said, "Uh…that's okay. I can handle this without you being…_so close_." She poured the rest of the eggs into the frying pan and placed the bowl down. "You can fry them."

"Ah," Sanji said, nodding. "Just watch, Luffy. I am a pro." He switched the fire on and grinned when the eggs began to dance in the frying pan. "So beautiful," he mumbled, little hearts forming in his eyes.

_I can't tell if he loves cooking or girls more…_

"You're so annoying!" a voice whined from over to the right. Luffy peered over to see a girl yelling at the boy. "Just go away!"

"You're being a bitch," he responded, pushing her over so he could crack the eggs into the frying pan.

"You're supposed to crack them in the bowl first, to avoid getting eggshells in the pan!" the girl cried out, trying to grab the eggs away from him.

He frowned. "Stop it! I got this."

"No you don't!"

"Yes. I. Do." He sent her a narrowed expression and she ended up crossing her arms and standing there, watching angrily.

"Is something the matter, Miss. Valentine?" Zeff asked, glancing at the two bickering students.

"Yes!" she answered loudly, stomping her foot. "This jerk doesn't know what to do and he's ruining _everything!_"

Zeff glanced over to the boy. "Bartolomeo…are you not getting along with Miss. Valentine?"

He looked up to the teacher. "I'm doing fine. She's the one throwing a fit."

"I'm not!" she cried. "You pushed me!" She looked over to the teacher. "He _pushed_ me!"

Zeff rolled his eyes. "If you two aren't going to get along, I'll have to break you up and send you to work with other groups!"

"Fine with me," Bartolomeo said.

"Ugh!" Valentine groaned.

"Alright," Zeff said, annoyed. "You, Bartolomeo, go over there with those two." He pointed to Luffy and Sanji. "And you, Valentine, go over there with that group in the front. You two better finish this project or I'm assigning you both an F."

He turned and left to go aid another group.

"…" Bartolomeo slowly took his frying pan over to Luffy's kitchen, glancing up at her and then quickly glancing back down.

"Hi!" she chirped, smiling warmly at him.

"Hi…" Sanji said.

"…"He didn't respond.

_Is he shy?_ "Here," she said, pushing over her frying pan—making sure not to touch any of the fiery hot metal. "You can cook your eggs here."

Bartolomeo slowly moved his own pan onto the new space. "T-thanks…"

Sanji glanced over to Luffy, shrugged his shoulders. "Uh…so, yeah. Your name is Bartolomeo?"

"Yes," he answered firmly.

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy said, sticking out her hand. "Nice to meet you!"

He swallowed some spit, looking down at her extended hand. His hand trembled as he took it, shaking her hand slowly. "N-nice to meet you, L-luffy…"

Her fingers traced his wrist when he shook her hand. She could feel his heart pounding. _He is nervous…but why?_

Sanji broke their grip apart, pulling her over to their frying pan and sending unfriendly stares at the green-haired boy. "Come on, Luffy, we need to focus on _our_ eggs right now."

"Oh…" She nodded and continued to cook, never noticing the small smile that formed on Bartolomeo's lips.

* * *

"Bartolomeo!" Luffy called out when the class was let out, her carrying her plate of scrambled eggs. "Wait up!"

He turned, eyes wide as she caught up to him down the hallway. "Where you going, huh?" She took a big spoonful of eggs into her mouth, smiling when it tasted delicious. Sanji had sprinkled some seasoning onto them, making them just beyond perfect.

Going stiff, he answered with, "Lunch."

"Where at though?" She blinked and pointed down the hall. "I'm eating over by some trees...just down the hallway and across the sports field. You should join in!"

"…I can't…"

"Why not?" she asked, arching her brows in confusion.

He took in a deep breath. "I…have to go do something today…during lunch."

"Too bad," she pouted. "It would have been fun to have you join our little eating group. Maybe another time?"

"I…okay, maybe…" His cheeks had gone pink again. "Uh, Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

He paused, almost as if he was afraid to ask something. "…thanks for adding me as a contact last night."

"No problem!" She took another bite of egg. "I'm surprised I never met you before."

"I'm new…"

She cocked her head. "Oh, okay, that makes sense. I would have totally remembered you."

He shook his head and looked away. "I have to go do that thing now."

"Okay! Bye!" She gave him a hug, feeling his body go rigid. Glancing up, she frowned when he was utterly pale. She released him and smiled.

"Ah…ah…ah…" He turned and quickly walked away.

_I guess he's not a hugger._

She shrugged and skipped down the hallway, tossing her empty paper plate into the trash before heading towards her lunch area.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Lunch time and Anatomy. Doflamingo has a talk with Trafalgar. Trafalgar tells Luffy about a special study group.

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**Thank you to all my followers, favers, reviewers of chapter 4 and any new reviewers (**0Chrissie0, StariChanx, nakcabttak2, iiLurvePancakesii, MonkeyDL, MitsukiAbarai, asldkh, Akera, Laaaaaaaw, Yuki Rivalle, Bartolomeo, and nathalie8756). **Thank you so much for reading!**

***Woot! This story has passed it's first 1.5k reads! Thank you so much guys! Y'all are awesome and amazing and perfect!**

***OMG GO TO MY PROFILE AND FOLLOW THE LINK UNDER THE FANART SECTION TO FIND THE AMAZING PICTURE 0Chrissie0 DREW ME FOR THIS STORY! Fanart is gewd. Fanart is food. I nom nom nom it all.**


	6. Doflamingo, the Match Maker

**Indian Summer|** 2.3

The entire group was there, waiting for her, with food spread out amongst them. Luffy grinned at all the yummy and very tempting items before her, salivary glands doing what they do best.

"Oi, Luffy," Sanji said, waving her over from where he was standing against a tree. "Where'd you go to after class? One moment we're talking, the next you're completely gone."

"Oh," she said, glancing back at the food before looking back up at him. "I went to go invite Bartolomeo to eat with us."

Sanji cocked his brow. "You inviting people to join us again?"

"Yup!" she answered proudly with a grin. "People shouldn't eat alone…eating is meant to be celebrated with those closest to you."

"Nobody loves food just as much as our Luffy," Usopp laughed as he ate his rice bowl. He was sitting crossed legged on the ground next to Nami, who was sipping away at her drink.

Luffy giggled as she twirled around and pointed a finger at Usopp. "That's right!" she agreed, running over to him and sitting down. She opened her bag and pulled out a lunch pail.

"What cha bring today?" Nami asked, peering over Usopp's shoulder as Luffy dug around her lunch.

"Gramps made me a pastrami sandwich," she answered, pulling the foot long out, pieces of lettuce falling down slowly to the ground. "So yummy looking!"

Sanji laughed as he too took a seat, of course next to Nami. "_Nami,_ my dear, why don't you allow me to feed you?" He took a plastic fork and dipped it quickly into some salad, bringing it up towards the girl's lips.

Pushing his hand away, Nami frowned and said, "I'm not a baby, Sanji, I can eat for myself."

_Poor Sanji…he tries too hard…_

"Where's Zoro, huh?" Usopp asked as he watched Sanji frail about in self-pity. "He didn't show up yesterday either…but I think he got lost."

"He probably lost his way, again," Nami said, annoyed. "That idiot can't find his way outta a potato sack."

"You can say that again," Sanji agreed, laughing. "The idiot part, I mean, because he's an idiot. Did I mention he's an idiot?"

"So mean," Luffy laughed, hitting the blonde gently on the arm.

"Uh…Luffy?" a soft voice whispered.

She glanced up and grinned when she caught Violet staring down at her. "Violet!" she cried out, reaching her hands up to grab the girl's own hands and pulling her down next to her. "You came!"

"Yes…of course," she smiled, glancing around at the group of friends that were eyeing her with curiosity. Except for one blonde, whose eyes were utter hearts.

"_VIOLET?_" Sanji gasped, holding her right hand. "What a beautiful name, to befit such a beautiful girl!" His nostrils flared in excitement.

She blushed, trying to pull her hand back. "Oh…hi…"

"Sanji!" Nami snapped, slapping the blonde behind the head. "Don't scare her off!"

"Just ignore them," Usopp offered the new girl. "You'll get used to it, eventually."

Luffy knelt up on her knees and placed her hands on her hips. "She better, since she's joining the group!"

Waving her now free hand, she tilted her head and smiled. "Hello!"

And so the group accepted the new girl with ease, chatting with her about her classes and about her home life and where she came from. Sanji would occasionally throw in the flattering compliment, Nami would dig for any juicy gossip, and Usopp would nod and smile to Violet's random stories.

_They love her! I knew she would fit in with ease._ Luffy grinned from ear to ear, pleased with what she had done. _Now I just need to get Bartolomeo to join…and our group will grow ever bigger._ Glancing off, she smiled evilly. _Then we'll be the biggest clique on school and run this place._ _I'll be the queen at this school, soon…sooooooon…and all the other students will have to pay tribute to me with food. So much food._

She rubbed her hands together slowly.

"Uh…Luffy?" Usopp asked, cocking his brow in confusion. "You okay there…?"

"Oh?" she said, blinking innocently. "Yes, just thinking about all this yummy food that's not getting eaten!" She attacked a cup of fruit and quickly gobbled it down, licking away the sticky juices from her bottom lip.

* * *

**Doflamingo POV**

Kicking his legs up, Coach Doflamingo watched as the anatomy teacher strolled into the teacher's lounge, lunch pail slowly bouncing against his hip. He waved the younger man down, pointing to the empty chair across the table. "Sit," he ordered firmly.

Cocking a thin brow, the man obeyed. Placing his pail upon the table and zipping it open, he pulled out the contents, some colorful items Doflamingo was in no way interested in. He placed his hands behind his head and smirked.

_That smug son-of-a-bitch, acting like shit is alright._

"You didn't call her," he said, sighing.

Law glanced up and blinked. "Call who?"

"That _chick_!" Doflamingo said, slamming his fist on the table. "You know what? I freaking got you her number…convinced her you were this _great_ catch! And you know what happened last night, huh?"

Law shrugged.

_Don't you fucking shrug at me…_Doflamingo thought, eyeing the man angrily. "Guess, Trafalgar. Try and guess what happened last night?"

Placing his fork down and shifted back against his chair, Law answered with, "You were able to pass that bowel finally?"

"_NO!_" Doflamingo practically shrieked. "This isn't a joke! That girl called me up last night, that's what happened. And she was a total mess, bitching about how I did her dirty and got her hopes up that some guy was going to call her and ask her out. I spent an hour on the phone last night trying to calm her down!"

"That's not my problem," Law commented. "I never promised I would call her."

Shaking his head, he pointed to the younger teacher. "I'm doing this to help _you_ out, Law. I'm trying to get you the hook up, but you keep fucking up."

"I don't need the _hook up_," Law argued, narrowing his stare. "Plus, she didn't sound that interesting when you first told me about her."

_Ah, so that's it…Law-boy wants a woman who's interesting. Rests assure, I shall give him that woman._

Pulling out his phone and resting his elbow on the table, the coach leaned in and began to swipe through some photos. "How about this one, huh?" he smirked, showing Law a picture of a bubbly redhead with a thousand-and-one freckles. "Cutie, huh?"

Law picked at his fruit cup. "Naw."

"Okay…how about her? She's got a total rack you can just smother your face in." He waved the phone, trying to catch the dude's attention. "No? Not your cup of tea?" He swiped again. "Okay. This girl _has_ to be your type. She's into some super weird shit…"

Law glanced up at the picture.

_There we go,_ Doflamingo thought. _That got his attention._

"What's her name?"

Raising a finger and cocking a brow, the coach smirked. "You'll like this: Just like her hair color, her name is Raven. Interested?"

"…"

Taking a napkin from the other table, Doflamingo quickly jotted down her number. "Here, take it. No questions asked. Call her up for a night of fun. Remember to thank me the morning after, alright?" He pushed the napkin across the table and grinned when Law took it and slipped it away into his lunch pail.

_Good boy, Law._

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up**: Anatomy class…study program thing…other stuff that may seem random but are important to the plot.

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**A/N**: The second half with the Doflamingo POV may seem random, but it's totally important to the story. Also, all parts are told Luffy POV unless stated so, like I did in this second half with Doflamingo POV. So, if I wrote Bartolomeo POV (because there is going to be one soon!) then it's Meo POV, not Luffy's, etc.

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**Thank you to all the followers, favers, and for the newest reviews (From: **iilurvepancakesii, yoursweetheart, asldkh, Magic Morgana, nathalie8756, nakcabttak2, kizaru, Yuki Rivaille, timloveshomestuckandhetalia, demoness kneesocks, 0chrissie0, mangalover26, and MitsukiAbarai!) **Thank you so much for reading!**

***OMG thank you for all the reviews on chapter five! So many. I loved them all.**


	7. Study Session, You say?

**Indian Summer|** 2.4

When she entered anatomy, she frowned when she saw Zoro sitting at the front row, with his foot kicked up on the desk next to his. He caught her stare and lowered his foot. "Saved this for you," he said as she sat down next to him.

Slamming her bag full of textbooks onto her new desk, she gave him a dirty look. "And where were you during lunch, huh?" She crossed her arms across her chest and waited for his excuse.

"I got lost."

"That's what you said yesterday!"

"But it's true," he said, huffing. "Today, I went a different route thinking it would be quicker, but I ended up at the administration office."

She shook her head in shame. "Do you need me to draw you a map?"

Zoro laughed. "No, your art skills are the worst."

She took offence to that. "No they are not!" she argued. Pulling out a piece of paper and pencil, she began to create a map for Zoro. "Look, here is our anatomy class here…" she drew a lopped sided square. "And this line…will lead you…to the tree lining…"

The line ended up being a zig-zagged mess. She nodded to herself, proud, and handed the boy the map. "Now you won't get lost anymore!"

Zoro took it and gawked. "I…don't understand any of this, Luffy." Placing it flat on his desk, he pointed to her and said, "I'll figure out how to get there by Monday. It can't be _that_ hard."

She pouted.

"…" Rolling his eyes, he sighed and tucked the map away. "_Fine_…I'll use the stupid map," he muttered quietly.

She clapped her hands together happily. "Yay!" she cheered, smiling.

"Settle down class," Trafalgar ordered grimly as he entered the room, once again just a few seconds before the bell ending lunch rang out. "We have a lot to cover today. Get out your textbooks."

A student from the back cleared his throat, leading the teacher to slowly move his stare to him. "Uh…Mr. Trafalgar?"

"Yes?"

"I…uh…haven't gotten my textbook yet…" the boy's voice trailed off.

Law pointed one slender finger towards the door. "Get out and don't return until you get that book."

"B-but…"

"But nothing," he firmly said. "Go to the library now and get that book. We don't have time to waste. You can catch up at home with whatever material you miss on today's class."

The boy arose and went pink in the face from embarrassment. Muttering a weak apology, he quickly left the class.

Cocking a brow at the rest of the students, Law asked, "Anybody else need to get their textbooks? Speak now."

Three other students quickly got up and left, giving him awkward and nervous looks first.

Shaking his head, Law went to the whiteboard and took a pen out. _The Human Body…Pg. 11_…he wrote on the board. "Open to page eleven and read the first couple of pages." He went over to his desk, sitting down, and watching the students.

From her spot, Luffy could clearly see the boredom written on his face. She watched his fingers slowly tap against his chin, eyes occasionally flickering from one side of the room to the other…until they landed on her. Blinking, she shook herself out of her trance and went to open her book.

The first couple of paragraphs merely explained the purpose of the textbook, what they would cover in the first chapter, and other boring things. Soon, Luffy found herself skimming the material, right foot tapping quietly against the floor. Sighing, she turned the page and glanced over to Zoro.

He was looking outside the window.

Frowning, she reached out to touch his elbow, making sure that Law didn't see her. Her nails barely made contact with the fabric of his shirt, but he cocked his head to look her way. "What?" he mouthed.

"I'm bored," she whispered.

Zoro glanced over to Law. Lifting a finger to his mouth, he tried to mouth a shush.

Pouting, Luffy crossed her arms. "But _Zoro…_"

"Is there something the matter, Miss. Luffy?" Law asked, raising his stare up to the two students.

"Uh…no…" she muttered.

Folding his hands together, he responded with, "This is an individual reading assignment. Please refrain from talking."

"Y-yes," she said, glancing back down to the text. She scooted the book closer to the edge of her table, so she could properly hunch over it and avoid any more eye contact with Law.

She stretched a leg out, with the other still tucked in, and waited.

After a few moments had passed, Law spoke. "That should be enough time for the first section of this chapter. Please take out your notebooks and copy what I write on the board."

And so Law spent the rest of the class period discussing atoms, molecules, tissue, organs, and organ systems. "We'll start with the simple stuff: atoms," he had said once during the lecture. "Expect a short quiz on them on Monday."

By the end, Luffy had written out five pages of notes, whereas most of the other students had only written about three. Her writing was quite larger and messier than her peers, but she never notice. And perhaps there were a few doodles scattered about.

Closing her book and flexing her wrist since it was sore, she watched as Law went to place the whiteboard market into its holder on the board. It fell from his grasp and towards the gap between his and Luffy's desk.

He knelt to retrieve it and paused, to what Luffy knew not why.

When he arose, he made the quickest of eye contact with her before returning to the board to try and place the marker away again.

Cocking her head, she thought about that strange look he gave her. She brought her legs together, folding one over the other, and placed her hand under her chin. Shrugging when she couldn't think of an answer, she waited for the ending class bell.

"Class," Law began as he leaned up on his desk, "I suggest you attend the study groups afterschool in this room if you want to do well in this class. Think of it like a club…but less fun."

A few mutters traveled about the room. "It's not mandatory," Law added. "Just know that I'll be here for any questions or help."

Jewelry quickly raised her hand with a smile.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Is that every day after school?"

He shook his head. "Mondays thru Wednesdays, I'll stay for about an hour. Other than that, only expect me to stay for about fifteen minutes after the bell."

_Maybe…I should go to that._

"If you want to join, then please tell me by Monday," he said, walking over to his chair. "For homework, please read over the rest of the chapter, especially the section about atoms. We _will_ have a quiz about them on Monday."

Complaints were heard, but died out quickly when the bell rang out.

Getting up, Zoro looked to Luffy. "You coming?" he asked when she didn't follow after him.

"Uh…you go on ahead," she answered.

Shrugging, he left.

Walking up to Law's desk, Luffy smiled and waited for him to glance up at her. When he did, she said, "I think I'll join…"

"Me too!" Jewelry cheered, pushing Luffy over. "I'll come every day!" Her eyes were wide in excitement, making Luffy uncomfortable.

"Alright," Law coolly said, leaning back in his chair. "Show up afterschool today and we can review what we talked about the notes today."

Jewelry looked as if she was going to burst out into tears. "I thought you said Mondays thru Wednesdays?"

"I did," he answered with a slight nod. "But I don't have anything planned afterschool…if you can't show up, that's perfectly alright."

"_Ahhh…_" the pink-haired girl whined. "I have cheer practice! I have to come up with some stupid routine for the newbs to learn."

"I can come though…I think…" Luffy muttered. "I mean, if you're going to stay after school…"

"I'll wait for you then," he said. Looking over to Jewelry, he added, "You two better head off to sixth period."

Blinking, Luffy nodded quickly. "Oh! Okay, bye!" She waved at him and ran out, with Jewelry muttering complaints behind her about cheer practice and it interfering with her study time.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Luffy learns a routine to perform for the cheer tryouts. She talks with Bartolomeo about which sport he took. She goes afterschool to Trafalgar's room.

* * *

*****I know her first name is supposed to be Bonny, but I like calling her Jewelry. I hope none of you mind that.

*****If I didn't make it obvious enough, the reason why Law gave Luffy that strange stare when he went to pick up the whiteboard pen is because he caught a glimpse of something down there. Something being her panties since she was wearing a skirt. xD

* * *

**Thank you to all my favers, followers, and for all the newest reviews (From:** makcabttak2, StariChanx, yoursweetheart, iiLurvePancakesii, asldkh, 0Chrissie0, Geniusly-Unique, and MitsukiAbarai!)** You _all_ are amazing and I thank you so much for supporting and reading this story! :D**


	8. After school with Law, Pt1

**Indian Summer|** 2.5

She sat on the first row of outside bleachers with her hands cupped between her knees, watching as Coach Hancock slowly paced back and forth. There were only a handful of girls there trying out, none that Luffy personally knew.

"Today," Hancock started, "my cheer squad will design a routine. By period's end, they will perform said routine. By Monday, you girls on the bleachers will have to perform it if you wish to join the squad. Any girl who makes the slightest mistake will be _**booted**_ off." Placing a hand on her hip, she loudly ordered, "So pay attention!"

Turning to face the group of girls behind her—all dressed in the school's cheer uniforms—she said, "Go on! Come up with something!" With a quick nod, she left towards the coach's lounge.

"Alright," Jewelry boomed, "Stay here and in a little bit, we'll return." She led the other girls with her.

"I hope it's going to be easy…" a girl with soft pink hair murmured behind Luffy.

Turning, Luffy looked up at her and tilted her head. "Why would they make it hard?"

The other girl pouted. "I don't know," she answered. "Maybe they don't want that many new girls coming in, you know?" She leaned toward Luffy's ear and whispered, "I heard that other pink haired girl is really mean when she feels threatened."

"You mean Jewelry?" Luffy asked, shocked. _She seemed nice in Anatomy…except when she kind of pushed me aside when I was talking to teacher…_ Blinking, she added, "Well…if it's hard, we'll just have to do our best to outshine her."

"Outshine _her_?" the girl practically cried out. "Are you crazy?"

_Just maybe._

Sighing, Luffy shrugged her shoulders and returned her stare over to the cheer squad, watching as they bounced about and shouted out moves and ideas. "I made a promise to Coach that I'd give her the best…"

When half of the period had passed, Jewelry approached the girls sitting down on the bleachers. "Okay," she said. "My team has come up with an easy going routine, and if you can't even handle this, don't even bother showing up on Monday!"

She proceeded to show off the moves, ending in a cheer that praised the wonders of One Piece High. Breathing heavily, along with the other cheerleaders, she placed her hands on her hips and smirked. "Got it?"

A few unsure mutters bounced around.

Luffy grinned from ear to ear though. "I think I got it," she called back.

Eyeing her, Jewelry gasped out. "You're that chick from Anatomy?" A displeased expression formed on her face. "You already got the routine covered, eh?"

"Sure do," Luffy agreed.

"I call bullshit!" one of the cheerleaders snickered. A lean blond walked over to Jewelry's side, smirking at Luffy. It was Valentine. "There's no way a newb like her already has it down."

"You can say that again," Jewelry commented. "You girls will attempt this routine, but I doubt you'll actually pull it off anywhere near as good as us, no matter how sure and cocky you are about yourselves." She glared at Luffy.

_Does she have beef with me or something?_

_Mmmm...beef. I want some beef. Beef sounds yummy right about now. Wait, Luffy, pay attention to the cheerleaders...but beef...cheerleaders...beef..._

Luffy had to restrain herself from drooling.

Valentine crossed her arms over her chest. "You can bet _little newb_ that I'll be judging you extra hard next Monday, since I'm on the cheer board."

"As am I," Jewelry added. "For the rest of the period, Coach Hancock has instructed us to help practice with you…don't bother asking me or Valentine for any one-on-one aid. You can go home when you feel confident enough."

Luffy arose, pulling her backpack strap over her shoulder.

"Already leaving?" Jewelry practically giggled. "Not even going to practice a little bit?"

"No," Luffy answered, tensing her posture up when the other girl took a step closer to her. "Class is almost over and I want to be there for the Anatomy study group."

Jewelry's smirked melted into a deep frown. "Don't even bother showing up there…" she huffed angrily. "There's no need in trying, you'll never do good in that class."

"You don't know that," Luffy objected.

"You'll just be a pest to Mr. Trafalgar!" She stomped her foot down. "You're so…_annoying_! I swear, make one mistake in the routine next week and I'll personally kick you out with my own boot!" She turned and strolled off towards Valentine, fists clenched.

_What is her freaking problem?!_

Shaking her head, Luffy quickly headed towards the cement gym grounds where other sports groups were being active. She glanced about quickly for the volleyball players but failed to see them. _Too bad I can't talk to Nami about what just happened…I'll have to text her tonight._

"L-Luffy!" a voice called out nervously, causing her to flicker her attention to her right. She watched as Bartolomeo quickly ran over to her, football in hand. He slightly smiled. "H-hi," he said.

"Oh, Bartolomeo!" She looked down at the ball. "You're on the football team?"

He glanced down and back up. "No…no, I'm not. I'm practicing though. My brother's on the team and he wants me to join."

She smiled warmly. "That's so cool! My brother is on the team too!"

His cheeks grew pink once more. "I…I know. Your brother is the quarterback, Ace!"

She nodded quickly. "Who's your brother? Maybe I know him…I know a lot of the guys on the team through Ace."

"Kid," he answered grimly.

_Kid? Do I know him? His name does sound familiar…?_

Frowning, she responded with, "I don't think I know him, or at least, I don't remember him."

"That's okay," Bartolomeo quickly said. "You don't want to know him."

Luffy blinked in confusion.

"He…can be kind of hard to be around sometimes," he slowly added, glancing back. Some of the other boys were calling him back. "I…ah…have to go back now. Bye!" He quickly scurried off.

_He's so strange sometimes…_

* * *

With hesitance, she knocked on his door lightly. A moment passed by, the hallway quickly emptying as students left the campus to go home. It creaked when it opened.

"Uh, hi," she said as she looked up. "Are you still having that study session?"

The door was pushed fully open by his arm and closed once she entered, it gently tapping against her heels. She took a few steps further in, glancing about at the empty room. _Is it just me…?_

"Sit down somewhere," Law calmly said, heading over to his desk.

She took her seat, directly in front of his desk. Fishing around through her bag, she pulled out her anatomy textbook and notebook, glancing up at him once finished.

The wheels on his spinning chair squeaked when he scooted it from in front of his desk and over to hers. He took a seat directly across from her, looking down at her book and pulling it over to get a better look at it. "What do you want to study?" he asked, opening the book to chapter one.

"I guess atoms…" she answered, watching as his eyes flickered over the pictures. She pulled her legs in towards her chair, making room for his own under the desk. "Is that all that's going to be on the quiz?"

"Hmm?" he asked, not really paying much attention to her.

"The quiz…is it only going to be about atoms?"

"Oh, yes." He looked up and pushed the book back to her. "I suggest studying these three paragraphs here, since most of the questions are directly from the text."

She looked at the paragraphs and smiled. "Like the definition and general appearance of it?"

"Yes," he answered. His finger traced over a drawing. "Basically describe this, such as the shape and the surrounding molecules and what not. If you want to read ahead and be prepared for next week, I suggest reading up to the first half of chapter two."

She pouted. _That's like fifty pages already!_

"What about this?" she asked, quickly jabbing her finger at another picture on the page, gently brushing the tip on her finger against his own.

"That's a molecule," he answered as he removed his hand.

"Oh," Luffy muttered, hand running up the side of her cheek and through her dark locks. She pushed her bangs back and huffed, reading the caption under the picture. "Will that be on the quiz as well?"

"Uh…no," he answered, eyes glued to her hand, fingers slowly weaving in and out of those dark strands.

His pupils narrowed, but she didn't notice.

"I'm going to quiz you now, just for practice," he slowly said, closing the book and reaching for her notes. "Let's see what you know without the help of this." He waved the notebook and placed it on his lap.

And so he tested her, asking her random questions from that day's lecture. She got at least half of seventy percent of them right, with her getting flustered over the ones she missed.

"That's okay for now," he said when they had finished, room hot as the afternoon sun began to lower. "Make sure to go over the information you got wrong, and you should be fine for Monday's quiz."

Smiling, she nodded and said, "Okay! Thank you, Mr. Trafalgar!"

He pulled back from the desk and watched as she quickly collected her things. When she arose, he scooted back, allowing her to pass by.

She cocked her head back and happily bided him a fun weekend.

He nodded and watched as she left.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Luffy's and Ace's older brother comes home to stay the weekend from college. Bartolomeo gets teased at home by both his brother and father. Trafalgar goes shopping online.

* * *

*****Hahaha…haha…ha…maybe Law likes gals with dark hair? Maybe?

*****Do you guys like the idea of Bartolomeo and Kid being brothers? I feel like they totally could be, what with the missing eyebrows, similar fashion taste, etc.

* * *

**Thank you to all my followers, favers, and for all the newest reviews (From: **iilLurvepancakesii, nakcabttak2, asldkh, 0Chrissie0, nathalie8756, Geniusly-Unique, and Yuki Rivaille.) **Thank you so much for all the support! It really means a lot! :'D**


	9. You're NOT the baby's daddy!

**Indian Summer|** 3.1 – September 11th, Saturday

**Luffy's POV**

"You are _**NOT**_ the baby's daddy!" The hollering of audience members radiated from her television set and throughout the living room. Luffy sat crossed legged on the couch, bag of chips hugged closely to her side.

"_AW MAN I TOLD YOU I WASN'T DA DADDY!_" the man now deemed free from any child duties screamed, running around the stage with hands flapping around everywhere. The host tried to consul the sobbing woman, face red from embarrassment.

A chip found its way into her mouth.

She licked her lips and laughed.

_How does it even get that far?_ She thought, amused over the situation being presented before her. _Is this even real? Does stuff like this actually happen in real life?_

Her phone rang, buzzing out a happy tune. Muting the TV, she picked it up and looked at the caller ID, smiling as she instantly recognized the number. She slid the bar across and accepted the call, pressing the device to her ear and mouth.

"Hi, _Sabo~_"

"Luffy, how about you open the front door, eh? Been knocking for like five minutes now!" the voice snapped back, causing her to glace back towards the entrance hallway.

"Oh, sorry," she giggled, ending the call and quickly jumping up. She skipped to the front door and opened it, tilting her head and sending her older brother an innocent smile. "I didn't hear you knock."

He pushed past her gently, tossing his duffle bag onto a chair. "You can't hear anything with that TV blaring as loud as you have it. I heard it all the way out from the drive."

She frowned. "Shouldn't you have a house key, huh? Or did you forget it again?"

He coughed and glanced around nervously. "Hey, shush! Don't need gramps hearing that…he'll nag me up a storm again."

Twirling around and heading back to the couch, she called back with, "Don't worry; he ain't here right now."

Sabo went for the kitchen and responded with, "Where is he?"

"Work," she answered, turning the sound back on, but lowering it enough for Sabo to hear her. "They called him in today. He should be back by four."

"_**Ace!**_" She heard Sabo shout. "Wake up, idiot! You freaking left the fridge open! Did you fall asleep while going through it _again_?"

A low murmur was heard.

"Don't tell me to be quite!" The fridge was slammed shut. "Gramps is always complaining about the electricity bills, you know that."

Shrugging, Luffy returned to her show.

"Next up we have Bellamy, a thirty-year old man who is accused of fathering _three_ children by _three different women!_" The host lifted his hand up to motion for the man to enter the stage, and as he did so, the crowd went wild with boos and screams. "Bellamy," the host asked with a smirk, "are these your kids?"

"Hell no!" Bellamy answered, pounding a fist on his knee. "Ain't any of them looking like me!"

A woman's voice could be heard shrieking from backstage.

Luffy got excited.

"Ooooo!" one of the women—the one who had shrieked—said as she ran out onto the stage, straight after Bellamy. "You're lying! You _know_ you're the daddy of my baby!" She went to slap him, but the security had held her back.

Bellamy laughed loudly. "You're a delusional b****, Alvida! We all know that the real father of your ugly kid is that stupid clown!"

She went red in the face. "_HOW DARE YOU?!_" She went in for another attack and screamed in frustration when the security blocked her.

The other two women were lead out onto the stage as Alvida was seated far away from Bellamy. They took their seats and glanced about nervously.

"Bellamy," the host calmly asked with a grin, "how sure are you that you're not the father of any of these children."

"Ten thousand percent," he loudly answered. "These hos trying to pin me with child support! They can go f*** themselves!" A censor beep blocked out what he said next, causing Luffy to laugh from amusement.

"Go f*** yourself, Bellamy!" Alvida screamed, trying her hardest to stay in her seat. "You're an assh***!"

The host leaned in towards Bellamy and asked, "Did you sleep with these women, Bellamy?"

"Sure did," he answered, cocking a brow. "Don't mean anything though."

The host wiggled a finger in disapproval. "It means that there _is_ a chance that you are those kids' father."

Bellamy jumped up and pointed to the widescreen behind them, which depicted three pictures of three different kids. "Look at Alvida's little monster, with _blue_ hair! I don't have blue hair!"

"Just get to the results already!" Alvida ordered, stomping her foot down in anger. "I can't stand hearing that ****er's voice!"

"Watch the language," the host reminded her. "This _is_ a family show." The audience broke out into a laugh over his little joke. "Alright…the DNA results are _**in**_!"

Luffy took a handful of chips and shoved them into her mouth, excited over the results.

Bellamy got up and placed a hand near his ear, to imply he was ready for the results.

Opening one folder, the host slowly read out, "In the case of Alvida's eight month old son…Bellamy…you are _**NOT**_ the baby's daddy!"

"_AHHHH_, I told you b****!" Bellamy practically screamed at Alvida, jumping around in excitement. He proceeded to give hot-fives to the audience members.

Her face went red, eyes wide in horror. "Noooo!" she cried out, jumping out of her seat and running backstage. "_**NO NO NO**_! I was _sooooo_ sure!"

"Ah hahahaha, I told y'all I wasn't the baby daddy!" Bellamy sang, happily dancing in and out of the crowd. "Let's celebrate back at my stripper bar! Free drinks for the first ten people to come!" He then began to list off the address to his establishment.

_Hey…that's in the town right by this one…He's from here?_

"_Bellamy_," the host laughed from his seat, "we still have two more results to read out."

"Go on then!"

"Aye, but get down here and sit down," the host ordered, pointing to the empty seat next to him.

Rolling his eyes, the man did as such and smirked. "I ain't the baby daddy of none of them."

"We'll see," the host commented as he opened the next folder. "In the case of Herb's one year old daughter…Bellamy…you are _**NOT**_ the father!"

And so Bellamy danced again, clapping his hands together in excitement and laughing loudly.

"And in the case of Baby Five's five month old daughter…Bellamy…you are—"

"Not the father!" Bellamy cheered, cutting the host off.

"_**ARE**_ THE FATHER!" the host laughed.

Bellamy's eyes went wide in horror, arms falling down to his sides. "WHAT? B-b-but she's one of my strippers!"

"And now the mother of your daughter!" the host added with a smug looking Baby Five clapping her hands.

"What's going on there?" Sabo asked as he took a seat next to Luffy, picking up the chip bag and fishing around for some.

"He found out he's the father of her baby," she explained, frowning when he took too many chips for her liking.

Sabo rolled his eyes. "You watch too much of this crap." He took the remote and turned it to female wrestling. "Now this…this is _real _TV."

"Eww!" Luffy shirked, getting up and ripping the bag of chips from his hands before running up to her room.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket as she received a text.

* * *

**Bartolomeo's POV**

His hands shook as he sat at the kitchen table, clutching his cell phone. _I just sent Luffy a text…Was that too soon? Or maybe I should've sent one earlier?_ His heart beat picked up. _What if she doesn't respond? What if she thinks I'm annoying?_

Dropping his phone, he clutched both sides of his face with his hands and began to breathe heavily. _I shouldn't have sent it! I'll look like a weirdo to her! She'll never want to talk to me again!_

"You're all shaky, sweetie," a voice calmly said from behind him.

Bartolomeo turned and watched as his dad entered the kitchen, carrying a bag of groceries. _When did dad get home?_

"Is something wrong?" the father asked, face full of concern. He placed the bag down on the table and began to pull out the groceries. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I…I know that, dad," he whispered. Picking up his phone, he swiped it open to see if he got a response. _Nothing._

"Does it have to do with your phone?"

"…"

"Bartolomeo…?"

"Uh…I texted a girl…" he avoided looking into his father's eyes.

"A girl?" he practically gushed, pulling his long blonde hair into a ponytail. "Oh, my little baby is texting girls~" He clutched his hands together against his chest. "Your mother would have loved to hear this…her little man growing up…"

Bartolomeo's neutral expression grew sad. _Mom…_

"Who is she?" he asked, leaning in and tucking his chin into his hands as he rested his elbows onto the table. "Do I know her, huh?"

"Uh…no, dad…" He pulled back a little. "She's just this girl…who is kind of really pretty…and…" he trailed off, embarrassed of talking about Luffy to his father.

"Oh," he smiled with a wink. "I get it. You're a bit too shy to talk to me about her. She must be a real catch, huh?"

"Who is?" a voice asked, causing both guys to turn and look towards the kitchen entrance. Kid was leaning on the frame, with arms crossed and annoyed expression written all over his face. "I can hear you two _girls_ gushing all the way from my room."

"I'm not a girl!" Bartolomeo growled. _He's always calling me that…freaking jerk!_

"Little Bartolomeo has a girlfriend," their father happily cheered. "He's texting her right now!"

"N-no, I don't!" Bartolomeo quickly responded, cheeks growing hot.

"_Finally_," Kid snapped. "I thought he was going to grow into a stupid pussy like you, dad!"

"Eustass Kid!" the father yelled. "Do not use that type of language in this house!"

The red head shrugged and turned to leave. "I can fucking say whatever I want since I'm the only man now in this house."

Bartolomeo weakly looked back to their father, who seemed saddened by Kid's words. "Dad…"

"It's okay, sweetheart," he quietly said. "Your brother is just grouchy…teenage hormones probably messing about with his attitude." He smiled warmly as he placed a hand on Bartolomeo's shoulder. "Don't be nervous…any girl would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks, dad," he whispered, feeling slightly better. "I'll…wait for her to text me back…and _if_ she does…"

"_When_ she does," the father corrected. "And when she does, you'll woo her off her feet."

Bartolomeo weakly smiled.

* * *

**Luffy's POV**

She held the phone up above her face as she lay in bed. _Hey, Luffy…_the text had read, nothing more and nothing less.

_From Bartolomeo…_

She smiled and quickly began to type out a message.

_Hey Bartolomeo! : )_

Send.

She placed the phone on her pillow and tucked a hand under her head. _He's a nice guy…that one._

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Trafalgar orders a few strange items online. Luffy gets a strange text. Doflamingo visits the stripper bar to congratulate Bellamy on the new baby.

* * *

**A/N:** A quick backstory about Bartolomeo and Kid's dad: Okay, so it's Killer. A long time ago, Killer and a woman (the mom) adopted Kid and Bartolomeo (who are blood brothers). The mom died and due to heartbreak, Killer turned into a mother figure, which Kid doesn't really appreciate since he now sees Killer as a wussy, coward, and not the brave man he once knew as a young boy.

*****And the whole baby daddy bit with Bellamy does have to do with the story! It wasn't just a random little bit/filler I added in, haha!

*****Also, the whole **** was my way of censoring it because it was on a tv show, and you know how tv shows like that like to censor the words, and since this is Luffy's POV, that is what she hears while watching it...so yeah. Ha ha ha...bye xD

*****Robin, Franky, Brooke, and Chopper _WILL_ appear, some sooner than later, but I have plans for them to appear. I keep forgetting to mention that, haha.

* * *

**Responses to questions/comments in reviews that I want seen public:**

**Nathalie8756: **We're not exactly going to see the actual date, but there are going to be scenes that involve both this Raven and Trafalgar. Raven (that's not her real name; she's actually a canon character and will be revealed later on) is going to play a big role in Traflagar's character development...I don't want to give any detail away, but yes: We shall see those two interacting.

**iilLurvePancakesii: **Yeah, Kid's the mean big brother type. As I explained above in the quick backstory, he has some issues with Killer being a bit wimpy, haha, and takes it out on Bartolomeo and others.

**MitsukiAbarai:** Yes! Bonny is a main character in this story. I have plans for her and plot development that goes deeper than her just being a tab bit worried/jealous of Luffy and popularity.

**MAGIC MORGANA: **OMG. I completely forgot to respond to you comments in the last chapter because I really wanted to say something to you. Your review on chapter five made me LAUGH so hard. Omg. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to write in a scene where Ace reacts to Luffy's cheer outfit, and I'll totally credit you for the idea in that chapter! : D

* * *

**Thank you to all the followers, favers, and for all those who gave me recent reviews (From:** Geniusly-Unique, nathalie8756, Yuki Rivaille, alalalalshalbet, iilLurvePancakesii, keareal, nakcabttak2, 0Chrissie0, dallllll, and MitsukiAbarai!) **Thank you all for reading and supporting this story!**


	10. Laxatives

**Indian Summer|** 3.2

**Law's POV**

He cracked his fingers, little pops filling the small office room in his apartment. They slowly traced over the keyboard buttons. The only light in the room was from the computer screen, eliminating images of different types of rope.

He selected one, one that was rated high for being strong and heavy-duty.

Slowly, he licked his dry bottom lip and added the rope to his virtual shopping cart.

He arose and went to his drawer, opening the top one to fish around for something. His hand found that napkin.

_Raven…_

He placed the napkin down and quickly retrieved another thing inside the drawer, hidden away under some sweaters. It was sharp and beautiful and his most precious item.

It was placed upon the napkin and Law returned to his computer, looking for just a few more needed items.

* * *

**Luffy's POV**

It was late when he finally texted her back. She had already slipped into bed, eyelids growing heavy. When her phone buzzed, she was hesitant about checking it.

_Ah…should I look at it? Just…close your eyes…and go to…sleep…_

Her body went soft as she felt herself drifting off.

It buzzed again.

Sighing, she grabbed it and slid it open, wincing from the bright light.

_One new text from Bartolomeo._

_One new text from unknown number._

She opened Bartolomeo's first.

_How are you?…_it had read, simple and quick to the point.

_Fine…_her fingers slowly typed out, eyes growing droopy again. _Just trying to sleep…You?_

_Send._

She looked to the next message.

_Watch your back._

She blinked, more than once. Lowering her brows, she reread it again and frowned. _What in the world is that supposed to mean? Wrong number?_

Quickly deleting the eerie text, she tossed the phone back on her bedside dresser. _That was such a strange message. Was it meant for me? Watch my back from what?_ It became hard to fall asleep, mind focused on the many possibilities that pertained to that text.

Pushing herself off the bed, she tiptoed to her door, creaking it open and peering down the hallway. It was dark. _Is everybody asleep already?_ She tried her best to slowly walk down the narrow space, trying to avoid putting any heavy pressure on the wood flooring underneath.

Her tummy growled and she whimpered as she clutched it. _Quite stomach! You'll wake up Gramps and alert him that you're heading for the fridge!_ Her stomach seemed to understand her, quietly rumbling, but low enough not to be heard.

Gramps never liked her eating late night snacks. "Unhealthy way of living," he'd tell her in his stern voice. "Unless it is veggies, but we all know you're the type to go straight for the yummier tasting items."

Holding in her breath, she quickly made her way down the stairs and made a straight dash for the kitchen, slipping on her socks from the smooth tile. She fell down on her face, knocking over a chair on her way down.

It was definitely _not_ quite. At all.

_Damn it._

She heard the flickering of a light switch from the upstairs, following by the heavy stomping of feet.

"God damn it, Luffy!" a voice boomed from the top of the stairs. "You better _**not**_ be fishing around through the fridge again! I just stocked it up!"

"AH! Is Luffy eating?" she heard Ace cry out in anger. "I want to eat too!"

"NO!" Gramps screamed, slapping the boy behind the head. "March straight back to bed, Luffy, or you'll get a smack as well!"

Sniffing, Luffy gave a defeated look to her lover, the fridge, and slowly slumped back to her room, her stomach protesting the entire way there.

* * *

**Doflamingo POV**

The little girl reached for his slender finger, giggling as she clamped down on it. Doflamingo tried to pull his hand back and smirked when she wouldn't let go.

"She's a strong one, Bellamy…" he commented, patting the infant delicately on the head as he looked to the father.

Bellamy muttered something he couldn't understand from across the bar, eyes glaring at the bar counter all gloomy.

"Where's Baby Five by the way?" he asked, smirking at her stripper name. He didn't know her real name.

"She just dumped the kid on me," Bellamy growled. "Haven't seen her since the taping of the show…"

"Cold," Doflamingo frowned. He winced when his lower abdomen gurgled, a pain growing. "_Fuck,_" he hissed, clutching his gut.

"What?" Bellamy asked.

"I took a laxative earlier to do something about my constipation, and I think I'm about to crap myself." His face went hot when another round of growls erupted from his lower gut. "Okay, yeah, I'm going to shit myself if I don't get to the bathroom." He ripped his finger away from the baby girl and jumped out his seat, awkwardly running side to side to the bathroom.

He gasped out when he entered the stall, pulling his pants down and letting his ass just throw up.

His phone rang.

It was Raven.

_No…not right now._ He canceled the call and tossed the phone to the ground, allowing him to grip on for dear life onto the toilet seat sides.

Somebody opened the door, followed by a high pitch shriek. "_Eww!_ You're taking a shit in the girl's bathroom!" a stripper screamed out.

"GET THE FUCK OUT THEN!" Doflamingo screamed, wincing when another wave of Friday's lunch came pouring out of him.

"Bellamy!" he heard the girl cry out as she left the bathroom.

The phone danced across the floor of the stall, a picture of Raven on his screen. Eyeing it, he kicked it away. _Dumb bitch can't take a hint that I __**don't**__ want to talk to her right now._

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he took a long deep breath. _Thank you medical world for laxatives._

* * *

**To be continued…**

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**Next time/coming up:** Cheer try outs. Who's there to cheer on Luffy?

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**Responses to reviews/questions that I want seen public:**

**Geniusly-Unique: **I had thoughts of making Raven Robin, but then I decided that I didn't want Robin to follow down the path I have planned for Raven. And yes, very deeeeeeeep down Kid loves Killer. X'D haha

**Aokai: (**O3O) PERHAPS it was a foreshadowing. Perhaps not. We'll see later on, hur hur hur.

**Nakcabttak2: **The stripe club serves more as a place for a lot of the bigger minor characters to interact (Doffy, Bellamy, Baby Five, and a few other characters yet to be mentioned.) Hahaha, oh my, Canvedish as papa to Kid and Bartolomeo would be so random and weird (but oddly quite humerous, I think, hahaha). No, Canvedish has a different role and he'll actually be revealed next chapter. : )

**Yuki Rivaille: **I'm putting in some Luffy and Zoro moments, but it's more towards chapters 14/15 since I'm already done writing those chapters. But there will be scenes where it's just Luffy and Zoro. : D

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**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and those who gave this story its most recent reviews (From: **nathalie8756, Geniusly-Unique, iilLurvePancakesii, Aokai, nakcabttak2, imalawlufanlol, and Yuki Rivaille!) **Thank you to everybody for all the support!**

***Yay! This story has reached over 4k reads! Thank you so much for that!**

***Tomorrow (Thursday 6/11/2014) I will be taking my permit test for driving. If I pass, then I'll celebrate by uploading a chapter tomorrow (as well as on Friday). If I don't pass, then I'll end up having a self-pity fest in the corner of my room D'x**


	11. Trying out for cheer

**Indian Summer|** 4.1 – September 13th, Monday

**Luffy's POV**

Luffy stood still out in the grass, clutching the pair of pom-poms given to her to try out with. She watched as the pink hair girl from Friday struggled to keep from crying.

"Shirahoshi," Luffy whispered, causing the girl to look her way. "Don't start crying, they'll kick you out for that!"

Shirahoshi sniffed and wiped away a tear from her right eye. "I'm just so nervous," she mumbled as she brought the pom-poms to her chest. "Aren't you?"

"Sort of…" Luffy answered, unsure. "I mean, not really…It shouldn't be scary, and I feel confident in the routine." She waved one of her pom-poms and pointed to the younger girl. "You shouldn't worry either. You got this!"

Shirahoshi sniffed again and nodded, smile forming. "You're right, Luffy. I g-got this, yeah…" Some voices caught her attention and she looked off to the bleachers. "Those people over there…cheering out your name, they're your friends?"

Luffy grinned and quickly nodded. "Yeah!" She waved over at them. _Looks like they all made it…Nami, Usopp, Sanji…even Violet!_ She narrowed her stare and frowned. _Zoro isn't there though…I told him where to go…_She crossed her arms and pouted. _He seriously needs to learn the layout of this school!_

"_OI, LUFFY!_" Sanji cried out from his seat, body wiggling side to side. "_YOU GOT THIS!_" Little hearts began to circle around him. "_AND WHEN YOU MAKE IT WE CAN CELEBRATE WITH A KISS~_"

Luffy laughed when Nami whapped him across the back of the head with her palm.

"_Girls!_" Hancock had called out as she approached the try out area, clip board in hand. "Let's get this over with!" She took a seat on a chair that was placed before the grass clearing. "As a group, please perform the routine."

Valentine and Jewelry were sitting at a table behind Hancock, sending little smirks to the girls.

"Don't trip up," Valentine called out.

"_**Break**_ a leg," Jewelry added sweetly. "_Literally_."

Valentine snickered.

Crossing her legs, Hancock looked back to her head cheerleaders and frowned. "Girls, be nice," she ordered. Turning back to Luffy and the others, she said, "Start!"

* * *

**Bartolomeo's POV**

He watched from far away, peering around the corner of one of the sports buildings. His eyes were glued on one young lady standing in the grass and talking to some pink haired girl. She turned and waved his direction, and he panicked.

_No…she's not waving at you…she's waving at her friends on the bleachers._ He frowned and watched as her friends cheered her on. _Maybe…maybe you should go over there and wish her luck?_ Shifting his weight to his right leg, he swallowed. _No…just stay here for now. You can go congratulate her if she makes it._

His eyes traveled back to her and up her legs. He admired the blue shorts she wore that day. _She's so cute…_

He didn't know what it was about her, but whatever it was, he was _drawn_ to her. Since that day she ran into him and knocked him over, him glancing up into her big innocent round eyes…_It was like I was looking up at an angel._ He blushed.

Luffy's coach had said something, causing her and the other girls trying out to get into routine position. _It's starting!_ His irises gleamed and his pupils grew big as the girls began to move around, waving their pom-poms, and shouting out cheers. _Luffy's voice…_he could hear her clearly, like a bird singing a sweet tune in the early morning hours.

His right hand slithered up the building wall to steady himself. _She's doing amazing…look at her go!_ He licked his lips and blinked, face growing pale. _Okay…you __**need**__ to go talk to her after all of this…just do it, Bartolomeo! Don't be a chicken!_

"_Bartolomeo~_" a voice rang out in his left ear, causing him to jump up in shock.

Turning, he frowned when he was met nose to nose with Cavendish. "What do you want?" he asked, looking back and scanning the area for Luffy. "I'm sort of busy right now."

"Doing what?" the flamboyant boy smirked, crossing his arms. "You're just…_standing_ there, peeping around the corner. Are you spying on somebody?" He moved in closer to Bartolomeo, peering over his shoulder and glancing about. "Who're you watching?"

"Nobody!" Bartolomeo huffed, pushing the boy away. "Now go away, okay?" _Luffy's doing a summersault! _

"Are you watching those girls over there, eh?" Cavendish asked slowly. "That's what perverts do, you know that Bartolomeo? Spying on girls like that."

"I'm not _spying!_" he growled, pushing Cavendish away again when he got too close for his comfort. "I'm…I'm just watching her try out…"

"_Her?_"

Bartolomeo swallowed, realizing the mistake he just made. If that blonde found out about his little crush on Luffy, he'd blab it off to the whole school. _Then Luffy will find out and think I'm a total creep!_

"Who's her?" Cavendish demanded, voice hungry for some gossip. "Come on, Bartolomeo, you can tell _me_."

"Nobody," he answered angrily.

Cavendish sighed. "I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own," he said, shrugging. "I'm quite the good detective, might I add. Oh yes, indeed. No secret is safe from me, the amazing Cavendish~" His hands clasped together under his chin, little gleams of lights shining in his eyes. He continued to praise himself.

_He's so full of himself._

Flipping a lock of hair back, Cavendish pushed past Bartolomeo and strutted across the court, hands on his hips and smirk glued to his face. "I shall go investigate now, Bartolomeo! There is no stopping me! Oh no, there is not!"

_Ah, bastard!_ Bartolomeo chased after him.

* * *

**Luffy's POV**

When she finished, she took in a deep breath and looked directly to the coach, watching as the older woman eyed them. Swallowing, she brought her pom-poms to the front of her body, just above her stomach, and waited for Hancock to say something.

Hancock glanced down at her notes. She lifted one finger and pointed to three of the girls. "You, you, and you: _get out!_"

Luffy watched with wide eyes as the girls shook in fear. One of them quickly left, another just stood in her place with a face full of shock, and the last one cried.

"Get out!" Hancock ordered firmly. "You clearly didn't practice the routine good enough! All of you were horrible!" Uncrossing her legs and standing up, she quickly added, "Cheerleading is not your sport!"

When all three had left, Hancock sweetly smiled to the others. "As for you few, you all made it!" She clapped for them.

"What about what we have to say?" Valentine whined, waving her own notes around. "I think Luffy's work was a bit sloppy!"

"Y-yeah," Jewelry added. "Her footwork needs improvement!"

Hancock tilted her head back a bit, looking to her two cheerleaders. "Oh?" she asked quietly. "Is that what you feel, hmm?" Her hand extended out to Luffy. "Please, Luffy, approach me."

Blinking, Luffy slowly walked over to the tall woman, swallowing when Hancock slithered her arm over her shoulders. She led her to the table. "Please, give your full report to little Miss. Luffy, yes?"

Valentine trembled a little. "Umm…yeah…she was a little messy, in my opinion."

"What was messy about her, Valentine?" Hancock asked, arm still wrapped around Luffy's shoulders.

The blond glanced down, face going pale. "Uh…her footwork?"

"Her cheers were off," Jewelry added quickly.

Hancock's heavy gaze fell on the girl. "I don't remember asking you anything, Jewelry!" Turning back to Valentine, she asked, "May I see your notes?"

Her hands trembled as she handed them over.

Hancock scanned it, ticking her tongue and smirking by the time she finished. "Luffy, can you please read the only sentence on here?" With two slender fingers, she handed the paper over.

Luffy took it and blinked. There was a picture of a girl drawn ugly. _"Luffy…don't let the bitch make it through try outs._" She glanced back up at Hancock.

"Good," the coach said, taking the paper and folding it. "I'll keep this for now," she explained. "But it seems that your opinions on Luffy's performance were a bit biased, Valentine."

"N-no," Valentine muttered. "N-not at all…Coach…Hancock…"

"Stop it now," the coach order, removing her arm from Luffy. "You know how I feel about snotty girls."

"Y-yes…"

"And you were being pretty snotty to Luffy, weren't you?"

"I…n-no…"

Hancock raised a finger to silence her. "Yes, yes you were. Two weeks of detention for unfairly trying to disqualify Luffy from joining the cheer squad. You saw, as we all did, that she did beautifully out there." She turned to look down on Luffy. "You did wonderful, child. Feel proud for yourself, as for the rest of you!" She glanced back to the other girls who made it. "You all did wonderfully! Congrats, you're all cheerleaders now!"

"Jewelry," Hancock added, "Don't follow in Valentine's footsteps. I expect more from you as the head cheerleader, alright?"

Jewelry didn't respond.

When everything was said and done, Luffy quickly approached her group of friends, smiling. "I did it!" she cheered, giggling when Nami embraced her tightly.

"You were the best out there!" Usopp exclaimed, happily clapping his hands together. "You totally put all the other girls to shame!"

"Luffy!" Sanji cried out, hugging her when Nami released her. "You were like a sweet little dove out there, so beautiful!" Her face was smothered by elbows, the back of her head snuggled into his right armpit. He wiggled her left and right, complimenting her on the lovely performance.

"You're going to suffocate her!" Nami shrieked, eyes wide in anger. She pulled Luffy away from Sanji's grip and sent him a death stare.

"Good job, Luffy," Violet quietly whispered to her.

Luffy smiled softly. "Thanks."

"_IS THIS HER?_" A voice loudly asked from behind the group. Luffy turned to see where the commotion was coming from and watched as a slender boy shook Shirahoshi around, causing her to panic.

"No! Cut it out!" another voice ordered. She glanced over to see Bartolomeo running over and pulling the other boy off of Shirahoshi.

"Oh, it must be this girl then," the new boy said as he approached Valentine. "Is she the one, huh?"

Valentine screamed. "Let go of me, weirdo!"

The boy seemed to take offense to that. "_**WEIRDO?**_ Who do you think you're talking to, huh?" Pointing a finger to his chest, he proudly announced, "I am Cavendish!"

"So?!" Valentine snapped back. "What the hell is that supposed to mean to me?" She pushed him away from him and stormed off, with Jewelry quickly following after her. "This day can't get any worse!"

Shrugging, Luffy returned her attention back to her friends. "Let's go eat, huh?" Usopp asked. "I'm hungry after all this excitement."

"Yeah," Nami added, "Let's go eat out!"

"I can cook," Sanji offered.

"Oh, that would be nice," Violet grinned.

Luffy frowned as her friends tugged her forward. "I don't think I can…I have to go to the anatomy study group…"

"Ah, come on, Luffy," Usopp responded as he patted her on the shoulder. "It's the beginning of the school year; you don't need to torture yourself just yet!"

"Usopp's right," Nami said as she linked her arm with Luffy's. "You can just go tomorrow, huh?"

Placing a hand under her chin, Luffy shrugged and smiled. "Okay, you guys are right. Let's go eat!"

* * *

**To be continued…**

**Next time/coming up:** Luffy gets her uniform. Kid has a talk with her. Trafalgar is taken aback by something. Homecoming dance and football game is approaching. Bartolomeo must decide if he wants to join the football team with his brother. And Doflamingo is still working on his digestive problem.

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**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and those who gave this story its most recent reviews(From: **Geniusly-Unique, iilLurvepancakesii, LazyFoxLover, nakcabttak2, 0Chrissie0, and Nathalie8756)!** The support you guys give to this story is amazing! Thank you so much!**

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**Responses to some reviews: **(Just because I don't respond to your review doesn't mean I don't highly appreciate it. I love every single review this story receives. The reason I have this response thing here for some of the reviews is because I want certain information to be available to all my readers instead of privately pming because these reviews have questions in there that I want everybody to see my answers to. I hope that makes sense, haha... : D?)

**Geniusly-Unique:** Lol, Law the Super Pervert x'D. WE'LL SEE WHAT HE IS SOON ENOUGH (OuO) But you catch on pretty quickly. Actually, a lot of readers/reviewers catch on to certain things pretty quickly, hahaha. I'm super obvious with my story plots then x'D And that poor flamingo has been clogged up in that...department. That's the side story here: The Great Adventure of Doflamingo's Constipation.

**iilLurvePancakesii:** We'll find out a bit later on who exactly sent that text to Luffy. Somebody knows something and is perhaps looking out for Luffy's better good?

**LazyFoxLover: **Ace's reaction to the attention being thrown at his baby sister will come sooner than Sabo's, but both boys shall have a word with her eventually. And for sure, yes, Dragon will appear. I'm playing around with Shanks role as of now, and I need to figure out a place for Makino, but I totally have plans for both of those men to appear.

**Nakcabttak2: **Actually, next chapter will contain a conversation between Kid and Luffy. It's still the beginning of that..._relationship_ (Don't take that as my way of saying it will be a good relationship between those two.)

I must say, a lot of you reviewers must be psychic or something because you're always asking/predicting events/scenes that I already have written out for the next chapter. xD

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**Thank you for the good wishes on my permit test. As you can tell by me uploading the chapter today, I passed, ha. :D So yay. Here. xoxo**


	12. Come sit back here with me, Luffy

**Indian Summer|** 5.1 – September 15th, Wednesday

**Luffy's POV**

The morning lights crawled in through her bedroom window, bouncing off her little mirror as she studied herself, wrapped up in her new cheerleading outfit. She had gotten it the afternoon before and was ordered by Hancock to wear it every Wednesdays, Fridays, and any days that they performed.

She did a quick twirl and giggled as the hems of the skirt danced with life. _I look super cute!_ Glancing into the mirror, she frowned when she saw that some of her stomach was showing a tad bit. _The shirt is cut kind of short though…_She tried to tug it down and sighed when it didn't help. _It's only a little bit of my tummy…not too bad._

Shrugging, she quickly scooped up her bag and scurried out her room, skipping down the hall and stairs and smiling when she found her way to the kitchen. There was a plate of muffins Sabo had left before heading back to the college campus for the week and she decided that a chocolate one would do fine for the morning.

Digging into the delicious pastry, she watched as her brother entered with eyes droopy. He muttered something about being tired and not getting enough sleep. "Youtube…of girls dancing…three in the morning…" He plopped down and his face met the table, eyes fluttering shut and snores filling the room.

"You know we gotta go to school…like _now_," she commented as she finished her breakfast.

"Shutup…" he muttered back. "I want to sleep."

"We're going to be late."

"I don't care."

"I do though," she countered, crossing her arms. "I can't miss today because my teacher is passing out our quiz results! I studied really hard for it and I want to know if I did a good job." _I have better done good…Mr. Trafalgar seemed a little upset that I didn't show up Monday afternoon. Told me that I better come in today to study for next week's quiz…_

"Ace," she whined. "Come on!"

She got up and pushed on his arm, causing him to rub his hand in her face. "Stop it," he growled before getting up. "I'm up already, so quit your whining."

He drove slowly that morning, occasionally yawning and swerving. Luffy had to yell at him every time he almost ran into somebody. When he parked the car in the student parking, she turned to him and said, "You shouldn't drive anymore if you're feeling sleepy."

"I wouldn't have if you just skipped today," he responded as he got out of the car. "Lock it when you get out!" And that was the last she saw of him that morning.

_He's such a jerk when he doesn't get any sleep!_

Somebody pounded on the passenger window, surprising her and causing her to jump in her seat. She cracked the door open and peered her head out, looking up to see a pair of narrowed eyes glaring back down at her. "Coach Hancock…" she quietly said, but stopped when she noticed the coach's stare widen.

"L-Luffy…" the older woman muttered, almost shocked. Her hand slowly reached out, touching Luffy's hand and helping her out of the car. "Your uniform…"

Luffy arched her brows in confusion. Glancing down to look at her clothes, she weakly asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No…" Hancock answered, releasing Luffy's hand. "You…look…so _**beautiful!**_" Clasping her hands together across her chest, she went on to exclaim how the outfit looked perfect on Luffy. "You've worn it best so far! And oh, just look at how the skirt hugs your hips! Aw, so adorable!"

"_COACH HANCOCK_! I got some paperwork for you—" a young male student called out from across the parking lot before being cut off by Hancock's deathstare.

"_**SHUT UP!**_" she screamed as she turned around, eyes wide and teeth razor sharp, gleaming in the sunlight. "I'M TALKING TO MY PRECIOUS LUFFY!"

The boy's legs trembled as he mumbled, "okay." He quickly left.

Facing Luffy again, her facial expression softened and she quickly embraced the young girl. "It's pretty little cheerleaders like you that motivate me to do this job! Such a little cutie you are. You'll definitely rack in some rewards for the squad~" Patting her on the head, Hancock bided a farewell and strutted away.

Blinking, Luffy slammed the car door close and glanced back in Hancock's direction. _That was weird…Coach Hancock sure is bi-polar with her moods. But it's good she thinks I look good in the uniform! She approves, and I guess that's all that matters._

Flinging her backpack across her back, she proceeded to walk in a fast pace to her first period.

* * *

"You barely made it today, Kid," Bon Clay dryly said as the red headed boy entered the theater. "You haven't even shown up the past two days…"

Luffy's stare widened. _Kid…that's Bartolomeo's brother, isn't it? I didn't realize it was him…_

"So?" Kid smirked in response, glancing down when he passed Luffy. His tongue slowly glided across his lower lip as his eyes took in her legs. "Nice _skirt_," he said as he looked up at Luffy, grinning as went to take his seat in the back.

Uncomfortable by his comment, Luffy slowly placed her bag on her lap. _That look he just gave me…totally creepy._ She felt her flesh cover in goose bumps and a shiver traveled down her spine.

"Class," Bon Clay said, flipping on the wide screen. "Today we're starting a new film! Please turn in your reports for our last one."

Luffy handed over her report to the student next to her, and he passed it along to the end of the seats. Bon Clay happily collected them, humming a little tune as he did so; however, he got dead silent as he approached the last row.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you don't have your report, hmm?" he asked.

"You're right," Kid answered, kicking his legs up on the seat in front of his.

Luffy turned in her seat to watch as the teacher cross his arms, happy expression now dull and cold. _What is wrong with him? Is he __**trying **__to get in trouble?_

"You do realize that you'll be receiving an F for this assignment then, right?"

Kid shrugged. "So be it."

Bon Clay rolled his eyes and walked away. "I don't get paid enough to deal with these kids. Alright, class—those who _do_ want to pass this class—take out some note paper for the next film. You know the rules: write down any important information you feel will aid you in this week's report. It's due next Monday!"

And so, Bon Clap flipped the movie on and fluttered to the room behind the stage. He had a tendency to leave the class alone so he could work on a screenplay. A student had asked him earlier that week what his screenplay was about, and he simply responded with, "romance."

A couple groups began to talk once he had left, not paying any attention to the film. She had noticed from the first day that the class had basically divided into many different groups, unfortunately with her being alone. Perhaps it was because she chose to sit in the front, where only a few others sat alongside her, but they had each other and didn't pay her any mind.

Luffy sunk back into her seat and began to take notes on the opening credits. She crossed her legs and blinked occasionally. About ten minutes into the film, she felt something light crash against the back of her head. Bringing her fingers up to the spot where she was hit, she awkwardly glanced back to see what hit her. She made eye contact with one of the students in the row behind her, and he pointed at a wad of paper on the ground. He then proceeded to point behind him, towards the last row. She slowly looked over there and saw _him_ grinning that same wicked grin.

She quickly turned in her seat to face the screen once more. _Did he just throw that at me?_

Somebody tapped on her shoulder and whispered, "Here." She cocked her head to the side and saw that a folded up piece of paper was being handed to her. Taking it, she slowly opened it and read its contents.

_Me throwing that paper at you was invitation for you to come sit back here with me._

Her heart began to pound. She felt her nerves go haywire. _What?! No…no…I'm not going to go back there._ She folded the paper and tucked it away in her notebook.

Five minutes passed by and another note was jabbed her way. When she turned to take it, she noticed the annoyed expression on the face of the boy who was handing the paper over. He clearly wanted to talk to the cute girl sitting next to him instead of playing the middle man. She sent him a shrug and took the paper.

_You look like a loser all by yourself up there._

_Just come back here._

She swallowed and tucked that note away as well. _Maybe…I should write no on it and send it back?_

"Just go back there!" the boy behind her whispered in her ear. "I don't want to sit here passing his notes to you."

Sighing, she collected her stuff and got up. _Sit back there with one seat between us. Just humor the dude. What could he possibly want?_

When she got back there, she tensed when he smirked up at her. She took a seat that allowed a space between him and her. "What do you want?" she asked, placing her notebook on her lap, and quickly glancing to the front of the room to make sure Bon Clay wasn't lurking around anymore. _I don't want the teacher thinking me and this guy are friends…_

He quickly got up and took the seat next to her, her body growing tense as his arm brushed up against hers. She pulled her elbow off the chair rest and frowned when he took it all with his own. "I didn't think you'd come back here," he said, eyes slowly taking in her outfit. "You're a cheerleader, huh?"

"Yeah…" she answered, slowly bringing in her legs to tuck them under the seat as much as possible. "It's my first year though."

He took her notebook and began to flip through it, ignoring her surprised stare. "I know that. I'm on the football team; have been for the past three years." Turning to look at her, he said, "And I know all the cheerleaders…except for the new ones this year, including you."

She reached for her notes, but he pushed her hand away. "You don't need these right now." He continued to flip through them, stopping when his two letters to her fell out onto his lap. "It's rude not to write back, you know?" He brushed the letters to the floor and tossed her book back on her lap. "You actually take notes on these boring movies?"

"Yes," she slowly answered. "It helps with the reports…"

"Screw the reports," he responded as his arm slithered across the back of her chair. He leaned in towards her and whispered, "This class ain't worth shit, you know? Just some stupid elective. Doesn't matter if you pass or fail."

"I think it does," she said, trying to scoot as far back in her seat and away from him as possible. "I need the good grades to get scholarships for college."

"Hmm, guess you're right. I got one already, a scholarship that is. And you know for what? Just playing football. This college wants me to go to their school just to play on their team." He sounded proud of himself, even a little smug.

"Good for you," she whispered.

He pointed to her shirt and smiled. "I really like the cheerleader's outfits this year," he commented. "Really shows off the girls'…_talents." _He kicked his leg up and leaned back in his seat. "You're Luffy, right?"

"Yes."

"I've heard about you, Luffy," he said in a matter of fact tone. When she gave him a surprised look, he continued on. "I first heard about you a year ago from your brother, Ace. He was going on and on about his little sister and how she stole the dinner he made. He's always throwing a bitch fit whenever somebody eats his food." He did a slow eye roll. "Then, just the other day, my brother of all people brings you up."

"Bartolomeo?" she quickly asked.

He looked at her, head slightly tilted and eyes just a bit narrowed. "Yeah…" he said. "He was talking about you. You good friends with him?"

"Well, I just met him," she explained. "And I'm trying to get him to eat with my group at lunch time."

"Hmm…"

She blinked and cocked her head. "Why was he bringing me up?"

Kid smiled. "No reason, really. Luffy?"

"Uh, yes?"

"You got a boyfriend? Before, on that second day of school, I was pretty sure you were some nerdy girl, since you were so eager to do everything that dumbfuck Bon Clay asked."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "No! I wasn't _eager_…I thought I'd just help him with the lights and door."

"Whatever," Kid said, laughing. "I didn't think much of you."

_What is he trying to say? He's insulting me?_

"But now when I look at you, dressed in that little tight uniform, I can see why my brother's so excited about you," he finished, licking his bottom lip. "You got a boyfriend, eh?"

Luffy felt her cheeks grow hot. "No…no I don't," she slowly answered, stomach growing uneasy. _Nobody has ever been so…__**direct**__ with me before, or at least shown me the slightest of interest. _

Smirking, he quickly said, "Don't get your panties all wet thinking that I'm interested in you like that. I'm already taken. I'm just fishing around for some information."

She nodded, relaxing just a little bit. "I'm…going to start taking notes now. I need to have _something_ to write about for this week's paper."

He shrugged and took out his phone. "Whatever," he said.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up: **During snack, Trafalgar catches an eyeful of Luffy in her new uniform while he is talking to another teacher. Bartolomeo tries to outshine Sanji in the kitchen for Luffy. Afterschool with Trafalgar again.

* * *

**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and those who gave this story its newest reviews (From: **Geniusly-Unique, iilLurvePancakesii, nakcabttak2, timloveshomestuckandhetalia, LazyFoxLover, StariChanx, nathalie8756, Yuki Rivaille, and 0Chrissie0!)** Thank you for all the support! It really means a lot!**

* * *

**Responses to some review questions/comments:**

**Geniusly-Unique:** Ah! You're totally right about Bartolomeo being OOC. I have a bad problem with OOCs (x.x) So thank you for calling that out. I'm trying to make him more aggressive, and I'm hoping he comes across as such in the next chapter when he gets into a little tiny mini cooking battle with Sanji.

**iilLurvePancakesii:** Oh yeah, Kid has already put two and two together by this point. Even though I don't mention it in the story, he knows his brother pretty well and knows when he likes a girl. Plus, he can always snoop around through his bro's phone to find out who the object of Bartolomeo's affection is, haha.

**LazyFoxLover:** Even though it was barely mentioned in this chapter during one of Luffy's thoughts (_Mr. Trafalgar seemed a little upset that I didn't show up Monday afternoon.) _I don't really write about his feelings towards Luffy not showing up, at least not this early on. I think I'll write out his feelings as they grow...stronger throughout the school year. And yeah, Luffy and Zoro are childhood friends :3 As far as intimate relationships go, I only have one more person stored away as a potential for Luffy...but it's different. I can't say anything or i'll spill plot ideas, hahaha. But for now, yeah: Bartolomeo, Kid, and Law are the potential intimate guys in her life. LoL, watch: I'll end up just shipping Fem!Luffy with every character in this story xD

**Nathalie8756: **The reason why Valentine got one and Jewelry didn't is because Valentine has been giving Hancock trouble for a long time. (I'm planning to go more into detail about this later on into the story, but I'll say this to answer your question.) And Hancock just gets fed up with her sometimes and takes her frustrations out on the girl. Plus, Jewelry didn't have any "mean" notes about Luffy at the time, and so Hancock didn't really have any evidence to punish her. I hope that makes sense. I'll totally go into more detail some point in the story, haha.

**0Chrissie0:** Ohhh, those are really good ideas! I hope you don't mind if I add them to the story? I'll totally credit you in the chapters that I do, but only if you don't mind : D


	13. A War in the Kitchen

**Indian Summer| **5.2

**Crocodile's POV**

"Classes running smoothly, Trafalgar?" Crocodile asked, leaning against the wall as he watched the young teacher pick at a bagel. Students happily buzzed about, chatting and eating during their fifteen minute snack break.

_He looks tired. He always has those bags under his eyes._ The principle crossed his arms and waited for Trafalgar's answer.

"So far, yes," he said slowly, taking a bite afterwards. He swallowed and nodded. "Actually, I think the group of students in my classes this year will turn out well. No problems at all, and most seem determined to pass."

"That's good," Crocodile concluded. "I try to weed out all trouble makers." His eyes trailed off as he watched two boys run down the hallway. "No running!" he snapped. Facing Trafalgar, he shrugged and said, "It's harder than it looks."

The anatomy teacher nodded his head. "Oh, I don't doubt it is," he commented. "Being the principle must be quite stressful at times, yes?"

Crocodile nodded, stare dull. "Yes," he drew out slowly, taking in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and went on to explain how his doctors told him to take a mini vacation. "I was thinking maybe somewhere in the desert, with a lot of dry winds and sand."

"That sounds…_pleasant?_" Trafalgar remarked, brow arched high.

He cracked one eye open. "I was never one for wet places. It's bad for my skin." Shifting his weight, he said, "I was thinking of taking this trip during winter break. I'm not sure yet. The Misses prefers to go during the spring for some reason…I'll need to talk her into going during the winter time…" He opened his eyes and frowned when he noticed that Trafalgar wasn't listening. No, instead the young teacher's wide eyed gaze was fixed upon something else, and as Crocodile followed said gaze, he blinked when he saw the object of Trafalgar's attention.

_God fucking damn it, Hancock!_

A young girl—clearly a cheerleader—slowly passed by, happily smiling to the anatomy teacher. "_Hi, Mr. Trafalgar~_" she cheered, waving at him. "I'm going to the afterschool study group today! I promise this time!"

"Of course, Luffy…" Trafalgar muttered back, nodding as she waved goodbye to him.

Crocodile watched as Trafalgar watched that girl leave, eyes glued to the back of her head. When he turned to face him, he looked taken aback, almost shocked even. The teacher opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and glanced down at his bagel.

"Hancock doesn't give a flying fuck, does she?" Crocodile growled. "Every year, she orders the skirts shorter and shorter! Does she have no morals? Parading those girls around like that?" _Somebody needs to have a stern talk with that coach. I specifically told her last year to make sure the skirts reach down to a certain measurement! She clearly didn't listen to me._

Trafalgar cocked his head slightly and nodded. "Yes…I can see how it can be a _distraction_…for the boys."

"Right," he agreed, pushing himself away from the wall. "I'll have my secretary write up a letter to that coach." He smirked. "Maybe threatening her pay check will teach her a lesson?"

"Quite possibly," Trafalgar said.

Placing his good hand on his shoulder, he gave him a squeeze and said, "You got your head on right, Law. A great teacher and a man who knows what is right and what is wrong. I need more teachers like you. Have a good one, alright?"

Trafalgar nodded and Crocodile left for his office.

* * *

**Luffy' POV**

Bartolomeo was waiting at the kitchen station when she arrived, apron already on and eyes wide and glued on her. "Luffy," he slowly said, smiling. "Here…we're making cookies today." He pointed to the pan sheet.

Walking over to him, she quickly placed her items away and took her own apron. "How do you know?" she asked, slipping on her apron. "Did teacher so say?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "That's why I got the pan out…because he told me when I walked in."

"Okay." She cocked her head to the side and blinked. "Bartolomeo?" she asked, causing his glance to slowly shift from the pan to her. "I forgot to ask you yesterday during class, but you were at the try out areas for cheer on Monday, weren't you?"

He swallowed. "Umm…yeah, I was…" he mumbled, hands trembling as he took out some pan spray. Placing the bottle down, he nodded firmly and said, "Yes. I was there."

She didn't know if she should continue asking. What Kid had mentioned earlier was bugging her. _He made it seem like…_"Why?" she slowly asked, hands folding together on top of the counter. "Why did you go there on Monday?" Her heart fluttered. _Why are you getting so flustered, Luffy? It's just a simple question…_

"I…I wanted to see…" he whispered. "I knew you were trying out for c-cheer, and I thought I'd support you…b-b-but I got there a little too late." His stare left her and fell down to the counter.

_He's growing so pale…_

A smile broke out across her face and she giggled a little. "It's okay, Bartolomeo! I'm glad you came, even if you missed out. Thank you for the thought, though." She leaned in and embraced him, arms wrapping around his own. _Maybe I'm thinking too much into it. He's just a really nice guy…there's no way he'd be interested in a girl like me. Kid was probably just messing with my head earlier when he brought Bartolomeo up like that…_

She felt his right hand press up against her back. _Is he…actually hugging back this time?_ A pair of hands landed on her shoulders. _Oh, he's reaching kind of high there…_ Luffy gasped out when she was pulled back.

"_**OI!**_" Sanji practically screamed, arms protectively wrapping around Luffy. "Why are you hugging Luffy, huh? _**HUH?**_" She could feel the blonde's heart pounding and hear his nostrils flaring.

Bartolomeo brought his hand to his cheek and practically gushed. "Because Luffy and I are friends and that's what friends do." His cheeks grew pink.

Luffy was shocked by his tone. _Such a change in attitude! He sounds more determined now…friendlier and not at all shy!_ She was in awe. "Sanji," she mumbled as she pulled away from his tight embrace, "it's alright. Stop overreacting."

"_Oh, sweet Luffy_~" Sanji whined with big bright puppy dog eyes. "I'm only protecting you and your wellbeing." He took her hand and pressed it to his chest. "It is my soul purpose to protect all lovely ladies from nasty little trolls." His eyes flickered a death stare over to Bartolomeo. "_Nasty, __**green**__, little trolls_."

Bartolomeo huffed and crossed his arms. "And what's to protect them from you?"

Luffy placed Sanji aside quickly, knowing that he was about to burst in anger. "Sanji, you stand over here on this side…and Bartolomeo will stay over on the other side. Let's get along and make some cookies, alright?" She put on her best smile and pouted when none of them seemed to listen to her.

"I'm going to make the best cookies, just for Luffy," Sanji declared loudly to his cooking rival as he began to pour ingredients into a big mixing bowl. "Any cookies made by any other person will taste like crap to her."

Preparing his owl bowl, Bartolomeo quickly snapped back with, "That is until she gets a taste of the ones I bake. She'll never taste anything as sweet and yummy and perfectly shaped." He snatched a spoon up and began to stir roughly.

"Yeah, right," Sanji snorted back, unamused. "I didn't know trolls could bake!" He played with the dough, grabbing chunks of it and forming little balls.

Bartolomeo did so as well, flattening his down when he pressed them upon the pan. "**_Gross._** That dough looks gross. Those cookies of yours will end up looking like piles of dog shit."

"_MY COOKING IS PERFECT_," Sanji snapped, eyes bright with fire as he shoved his pan into the stove. "And I'll present the perfect cookies to the oh so perfect Luffy and she'll forget all about little trolls."

"We'll see about that!" Bartolomeo growled as he too inserted his pan into his stove.

Pouting, Luffy watched as the two boys continued to throw jabs and insults at each other. _Why can't they just get along? I suppose I should start making my own…_She blinked when she realized she had eaten half of the ingredients. _Oh…oh my…I didn't even notice that I was eating them._ Shrugging, she made do with what she had and gently placed her pan of cookies into her stove. _I hope they come out yummy! I'd love me some cookies right about now._

* * *

Mr. Zeff sighed to himself as he looked upon the two pans of burnt cookies. "These look horrible," he muttered, not daring to touch the black rocks. "Did either of you pay attention when you set the temperature?"

Bartolomeo shrugged, clearly uninterested.

Sanji pouted. "I've never made a mistake like this when it comes to cooking. _Never!_" He grabbed both sides of his face and whined. "I was too busy fighting off that troll to pay any attention to the temperature!"

"Ah…" Zeff nodded and shrugged. "Well, at least you boys tried, and I suppose that's the goal here. So a B should do just fine for you two. Luffy, though…" He turned to her and grinned. "You did a wonderful job, little lady. These cookies look just amazing! An _A_ plus for you!"

He patted her on the head and went on to the next station to grade other students cookies.

Clapping her hands together, Luffy grinned proudly. "And they taste amazing," she added as she took bite. _I've never made something just as good. I should make cookies more often!_ Turning to the two boys, she each handed them one. "Here, since yours didn't come out good."

Bartolomeo blushed and took the cookie, eyes watery. "A cookie from Luffy…" he muttered quietly to himself, turning around to nibble on it.

Sanji took his and smiled. "Thanks."

"So delicious!" the green haired boy exclaimed as he finished the treat. Turning back around to face her, he quickly thanked her.

She nodded and smiled, tucking a lock of her hair back. "Bartolomeo?" she asked. "Would you like to eat lunch with us today, if you're not busy?"

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sanji stiffen. His arms crossed and he frowned. _I hope he doesn't cause a problem…_

Bartolomeo blinked and glanced around nervously. "Umm…are you sure?" he muttered, voice now pitchy. He shook his head. "I mean…I mean, sure…yeah. I'll eat lunch with you."

Her eyes widened in excitement. "Oh, really? You will?" She turned to Sanji and smiled. "See, our group is getting bigger and bigger every day!"

He tried his best to smile and nod at her enthusiasm.

Turning back to Bartolomeo, she quickly said, "You'll love it in our group!" _Soon…soon I shall be queen. Queen of the school…Queen of all the food! My group is growing so big now. But no…I need more…more people…more tribute._ She began to rub her hands together, plotting ways to get more students to rally under her and feed her unlimited amounts of food.

"Uh, Luffy?" Bartolomeo mumbled.

"She's in that state of mind again…" Sanji muttered quietly. "Who knows what's lurking in that mind of hers right now."

_Foooooooooooood._

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up: **Afterschool with Trafalgar. Luffy gets a new contact.

* * *

**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and those who gave this story its newest (and very kind) reviews (From:** LazyFoxLover, iilLurvePancakesii, Geniusly-Unique, Akera99, Yuki Rivaille, Guest, NekoMimiMyawMyaw, and asldkh!) **Thank you so much for the support!**

* * *

**Responses to certain questions/comments:**

**LazyFoxLover: **I like the Zoro/Luffy ship as well, but for this story, I'm shipping Zoro with another, which will be revealed within the next few chapters.

**Akera99:** Neither, actually. Kid has his own (twisted?) reasons for _pursuing_ Luffy. I don't want to give away future plot detail, so that's why I can't really answer your question fully.

**Guest:** Just like Luffy, Shirahoshi is a Junior (11th grader), though she's on the younger side. I never stated it yet, but Luffy is 17 in this story and Shirahoshi is 16.

**NekoMimiMyawMyaw:** Yes! Chopper will actually appear soon, within the next 8 - 10 chapters (which isn't a lot since I usually update at least three times a week.)

**asldkh:** Congrats on finishing! Ace's reaction is coming, soon! And Zoro/Luffy scene is coming, soon!

***Kid's girlfriend:** She will be revealed soon, but I'm pretty sure a lot of you already figured out who it would be. Their relationship isn't the typical romantic one though...It'll be explained soon.

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***Ah**...I'm still working on making Bartolomeo a little less OOC, haha...

***The story has now reached over 1oo reviews and 6k reads! Thank you so much! You all are truly amazing and the best!**


	14. Dat Ass

**Indian Summer|** 5.3

**Bartolomeo's POV**

With hesitance, he slowly approached her side, making sure not to walk too fast nor too slow. Her friend—Sanji—stood to her left and so he took her right. She would occasionally glance up at him, lips spreading apart slowly to reveal that beautiful smile.

His heart pounded.

_I can't believe that I'm going to spend the lunch with Luffy! It's like a dream come true…even if her friends are there. They all appeared to be nice that Monday…but that Sanji guy got angry and acted weird when she hugged me._

_Luffy __**hugged**__ me, __**again**__. And she didn't seem to mind when I placed my hand on her back. I'm so glad I hugged back…_

Licking his dry lips, he asked, "You guys eat over by the trees, right?"

"_Mmmhmm_," Luffy answered, nodding her head sweetly. "There's a lot of shade over there and that helps with this heavy heat." Her hands clasped together over her skirt.

His eyes widened, fully taking in her outfit. _I didn't even notice. She's wearing the cheer uniform, and she looks…so cute! That skirt is really short…_ He broke out into a deep red blush.

"You okay?" Luffy asked, touching his forearm.

His arm tensed and swallowed. _She's touching me!_ "I'm f-fine, thanks." _Try and play it cool…If you keep freaking out over every little thing she does, she'll get crept out._

When they arrived, Bartolomeo stood off to the side as Luffy and Sanji greeted their friends. There was food scattered about, school bags and textbooks piled off to the side. Some faces he recognized, others he never saw before. _There's actually quite a bit of people here…_

"And this is Bartolomeo!" Luffy cheered, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

"_Bartolomeo?"_ a slender orange haired girl practically gasped, quickly dragging Luffy behind a tree. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could see her hands peeking out from behind the tree as they flailed about.

A boy approached him and smiled. "Hey! I'm Usopp, nice to meet you!" He stretched out his hand and Bartolomeo slowly took it. They shook hands, a nice and firm grip. "You ever have a problem here at school, you come tell me. I have a personal army of nine-thousand waiting at my mansion."

"N-nine thousand?" Bartolomeo asked, taken aback.

Usopp nodded.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a personal army, Usopp!" a girl with dark hair gasped, hands covering her face, surprised. "I would love to see them one day, if you don't mind."

Usopp's legs trembled and he muttered something that Bartolomeo didn't catch. "Violet," the boy said after a moment of shivers, "t-t-they don't have time to diddle around. You know, they're doing things…big things…" His eyes shifted back and forth.

"Or maybe they don't exist?" Sanji added, cocking his brow. He took Violet's hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss upon it. "_Besides, the only brave knight Violet needs is me~_"

She giggled quietly and Sanji continued to fawn over her.

"_Meo!_" Luffy called out as she skipped from behind the tree, her orange haired friend angrily following behind her. "Come sit over here."

He took a seat next to her and asked, "Meo?"

She nodded. "Isn't it cute? I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

_**CUTE?**_ "Uh, sure. You can call me anything you want." _We're already at a nickname basis! Everything is happening so fast!_

Luffy's hand slowly landed upon his own. Patting it, she said, "Good! And you better get used to eating here because I expect you to show up every day!"

"Unlike another certain green-haired person," Usopp muttered. "I can't believe Zoro has yet to find his way here!"

The group exploded out into a conversation about Zoro but Bartolomeo's mind was glued on Luffy's hand. _She still has it on my own…Should I hold it? N-no…maybe…what should I do?!_ His fingers slowly began to reach up towards her own, but she quickly pulled away before he could fully do it. _Oh no…did I freak her out?!_

_You just gotta learn how to play it cool. Dad said you could do it…A little at time._

* * *

**Ace's POV**

He sat on the ground with his empty lunch bag on his lap, listening as Marco told him a story about some miracle pass from the football game that aired last night. Ace had missed it due to watching certain videos of girls dancing on the internet. _I'm so tired, but it was so worth it._

His stare lingered off, mind going numb as he watched students scurry about the school, chatting, laughing, and playing. _So many hot chicks here…so many…_His brows lifted as a slender girl quickly ran by, skirts waving in the wind.

_Dat ass…_He shifted upwards, straightening his posture so he could get a better look. _Oh my…that girl definitely gets a hoo-yah from me._ He flicked his stare up, taking in her entire form. _Who is she? I can't tell if I know her or not…she's too far away. Please, turn around so I can look upon your face, my booty-tastic angel._

And as if the girl had heard his thoughts, she slowly cocked her head to the side, allowing him a full take of her face. His heart stopped, his gut tightened, and his eyes narrowed.

Luffy waved at him, smiling before running off to wherever she was going.

"Ace?" Marco whispered, voice full of worry. "Dude…you look like you're about to barf."

"I think I am," Ace mumbled out weakly, grabbing his stomach as it ached. _I can't believe that just happened. No…no way. I just…It's the lack of sleep, that's it! Oh, Ace, see what happens when you don't get your beauty rest? Your mind starts to fuck around with you…yeah, that's it._ "I'm…going to throw up now."

The empty lunch bag proved to be useful at that moment and time.

* * *

**Luffy's POV**

She was grinning from ear to ear as she took in the big red _A_ on her quiz. _Yes! I did it. An __**A**__ for me, yes, yes, yes!_ Her eyes flickered over to Zoro's desk, his eyes dull and mouth slightly shifted in a frown.

"Perhaps coming afterschool for the study group will serve you well, Mr. Roronoa," Trafalgar suggested as he passed by him. "If you continue to get scores like this, I'm afraid you won't pass this class."

"…" Zoro frowned and slumped back in seat, face painted in obvious disappointment.

Tilting her head, Luffy mumbled his name, trying to catch a glimpse of his paper. "What did you score?" The paper was handed over to her and she frowned when she scanned over it. "Oh…" _He failed…_ "Zoro…it's going to be okay…just make sure to study extra hard for the next one, okay?"

Zoro took the paper back and crossed his arms. "I _did_ study for this one, but for some reason, I just froze on the quiz. It was like all the answers left my mind and I couldn't draw back on any of the lecture." His lips pressed together and he let out a quite sigh.

_He's clearly upset…_She brought her hands to her chin and leaned her elbows on the table. _I should convince him to stay afterschool. Teacher helped me…maybe he can help him as well._ "You should go afterschool with me today. Mr. Trafalgar can study with you, you know? That's what I did, and look, I passed!"

He arched his right brow and looked at her paper. "You really think going will help?"

She quickly nodded, determined. "I'm one-thousand percent sure! At least try, Zoro. And then we can totally hang out after that…maybe go get some ice cream or something, yeah?" _Ice cream always cheers me up when something goes sour._

"I suppose," he mumbled, unsure. "I guess it won't hurt." He glanced back at Law who was at the back of the class and slowly leaned towards Luffy's ear before whispering, "Is he strict?"

"Mmmm, no," Luffy answered, thinking about it for a moment. "He was actually really nice when I went."

Zoro nodded and pulled back to his seat, resting his arm on the back of his chair. "Okay, I'll go."

"Great!" _He looks a bit relieved. Hopefully, this study group will really help him out._

* * *

Luffy barged into the room ten minutes later than she should have. Coach Hancock had kept them in after the bell to lecture them on grace and balance. A girl with high-boned and pinkish cheeks had the guts to complain and earned a rather loud snapback from the coach. "Nobody leaves until _I_ say so," Hancock had explained, hands gripping tightly to her hips. "And you girls need to learn a thing or two about _grace_!"

When they were released, Luffy had to practically run to the anatomy room. She had already missed out on Monday's get together and Trafalgar had canceled Tuesdays, so today was her only chance for some real studying. _And Zoro's going to be there today, and he needs support. I can't bail on him now._

"And when it comes to organ systems," Law was explaining as she barged into that small classroom, "always remember what I said in today's lecture: first master the little parts, and then you'll master the bigger parts, i.e. the organ systems." He turned his attention to Luffy and blinked. "I was afraid you weren't going to show up today, _again_, Miss. Monkey."

"Sorry," she mumbled, taking a seat next to Zoro, who had his text wide open and notes practically scattered all over his desk. "My coach kept me in."

The door was slammed open and Jewelry quickly entered, taking the seat closest to the door. Her face was reddened, breathing labored.

Law cocked a thin brow. "It seems that the cheer coach likes to keep her students after the bell." He pointed to the whiteboard covered with notes and diagrams and said, "We're discussing organ systems—the main ones to be exact. If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask once I'm done helping out the students over there."

Luffy's attention shifted towards the farther end of the class room, landing upon a group of three kids—two boys and one girl. _The study group has gotten much bigger…_Nodding to him, she pulled out her notebook and opened it to her notes, scanning them for any information she didn't exactly understand.

By the time the session had reached its limits, Luffy felt sure of herself; however, one look at Zoro's confused face made her unsure of him. _I hope he's still not confused by all this. Maybe I should invite him over this weekend to study? Gramps would allow that, I think…even though he's a boy, but he knows Zoro pretty well. I'll have to ask Gramps tonight if it'll be alright._

The three students from the back had left, leaving Zoro, Jewelry, and Luffy alone with the teacher. "I know it's getting late, but is there anything more you guys need help with?" His gaze fell on Zoro. "It's okay if you do. That's what we're here for, to help each other with the information."

Zoro didn't say anything and after a moment of silence, Trafalgar took that as his answer. "Well, I suppose that's that then. Have a good night." He turned towards the whiteboard, picked up an eraser, and began to wipe away the notes and pictures.

From the corner of her eye, Luffy watched as Jewelry arose and slowly approached the teacher, blouse unbuttoned at the top. _Her shirt is opened..._ She glanced down to her own chest and pouted. _Her chest is much bigger than my own…_Luffy shook those thoughts away and turned her attention to Zoro, ignoring whatever Jewelry had to say to the teacher.

"You got everything?" she asked him.

"I think," he responded. "It makes sense when he explains it, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember everything by the quiz next Monday." His frown was deep, brows low and face deep in frustration.

"I can always help you memorize," she suggested. "How about you come over to my house this weekend? We can totally help each other out, yeah?"

His expression relaxed. "I think that'll work," he responded. "Yeah…let's do that, thanks, Luffy."

"That's what friends are for, right?" She smiled.

When she had turned her attention away from her friend and back towards the front, she had noticed that Jewelry was nowhere to be seen. _Did she already leave? I didn't even notice._ Getting up, Luffy motioned for Zoro to follow. "Come on; let's go get something to eat."

Smiling, Zoro complied and went for the door, holding it open for her as he left. Before she had the chance to leave, Trafalgar called out her name.

"A moment?" he asked her.

She caught a strange stare from Zoro, to which she shrugged back a reply. The door fell shut and she was left alone with Law.

"Yes?" she asked, approaching his desk. He looked up at her, gaze warm and alluring, as well as intense and disarming. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he stated calmly after he cleared his throat. "I wanted to offer extra help to you."

_Extra help…?_

"Miss. Monkey, I don't do this very often, but I feel that you have potential." He pulled out a messenger bag from under his desk, placing it gently on his lap and opening it. "I feel that you really have a desire to pass this class, and I appreciate the effort you're putting in." A black sliver phone was pulled out, and his thumb slowly slide across the screen. "While I do believe this study group helps most students out quite a bit, it may not be enough for some, or I may not have sessions all the time." Light illuminated from the screen, dancing up in the air surrounding them and entering her eyes. "I want to give you my phone number, in case you ever have a question or need any extra help."

_His number?_

His stare flicked up from his phone and into her eyes. "Don't be alarmed though," he quickly remarked. "Teachers do this all the time with students they believe have the potential to really shine in the class."

"Oh," she slowly said. "I suppose this would help…" Reaching in her pocket, she drew out her own device. "Okay, what's the number?" And so he proceeded to read off his number to her, voice deep and soothing. When she had finished, she listed the name off as _teacher._

Part of her felt uneasy by this, the other part alive. For some reason, she found it _intriguing_ to have an older male's number. Of course, she had Gramps number, as well as some of her peers and brothers, but Trafalgar was out of the family…and well over the age of being a teenager.

"Feel free to send me a text any time you have a question, or need to contact me," he explained, putting his phone away. "I might not be able to accept calls all the time, but I'm good on texts."

"I'll remember that."

"I suppose I've held you back long enough…" He glanced towards the door. "Mr. Roronoa must be waiting for you outside."

Nodding, she bided him a good night and quickly left, heart pounding and adrenaline pumping.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Luffy and Zoro go get some ice cream. Bartolomeo receives a text from an angry and dramatic person. Raven *ch 16*

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*The Ace scene was an idea given to me by a comment/review made by **Magic Morgana!** Thank you so much for that hilarious idea!

*Also, I promise, the next study session group thing will be one-on-one with Luffy and Law. And something happens. : D

***Also, I added in some information about this story on my DeviantArt accound (link on my profile). I added in a character cast where I wrote down all the characters and their roles I have planned so far to show up. You can totally check it out and request a certain character to appear in this story if you can't find him/her on the list.**

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**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and those who gave this story its newest reviews (From:** LazyFoxLover, mangalover26, 0Chrisie0, iilLurvePancakesii, nakcabttak2, motherloosegoose, Geniusly-Unique, Yuki Rivaille, MitsukiAbarai, and Amazing Jane!) **Thank you so much for all the support!**

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**Responses to questions:**

**Everybody who commented on Zoro/Tashigi ship: **Ah, I feel so bad now. I already made her a teacher, and I can't have two teachers creeping around on their students. If I did, Law and Tashigi would have to battle it out for top teacher-creeper, 'cause that school is only big enough for one of them! Anyways, yeah, I have plans for another person to ship with Zoro. If I hadn't mentioned that Tashigi was a teacher (like back in chapter 2/3?) I would totes make them an item.

**Motherloosegoose:** Oh goodness, so many reviews at once, haha. Okay, to quickly answer most of your questions: Raven is a canon character whose identity has yet to be revealed. Boa is totes going to fangirl over Luffy. Law is into some freaky things, but maybe not what you're thinking. Doflamingo has poop problems xD

**Genuisuly-Unique:** Yes, lol. Robin is Crocodile's wife. xD You guys are guessing all the plot so good. :'D And you're getting somewhat closer on certain things, but I won't say on what. *shifty eyes* But I'll say you're on the right track. LOL yeah, Croco doesn't realize that Law isn't as against Luffy's short skirt as he is xD

**MitsukiAbarai:** No, you're right about Robin and Crocodile. They are married, but is it a happy marriage? WE'LL FIND OUT SOON. And yeah, Law and his hobbies O_O He has some unique hobbies...


	15. Never Upset Canvendish

**Indian Summer| **5.4

**Luffy's POV**

They sat on the swings, slowly hovering back and forth as they ate their ice cream cones. She had gotten strawberry, he had gotten mint. The park was quiet and the summer breeze refreshing.

"How do you _really_ feel now?" Luffy had asked him after a lick of her treat. She had to gobble it up fast before the heat melted it away.

"About what?" he had responded.

"About anatomy," she answered. "Did going to the study group really help you?"

Zoro shrugged. "Like I said in the classroom: I don't know. I feel like I know the material, but then I just blank out."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Not really…" He finished his ice cream. "Well, sometimes it does. I don't really blank out on really easy stuff, things that are obvious. But when it comes to the harder material and other things like direction, I just mess up on everything." His voice had grown quite, almost as if he was embarrassed to be talking about it.

Her lips parted for her to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, she sat there on the swing and kept her gaze on the ground. A pressure was put on her shoulder and when she looked up to see what it was, she was met with a small smile.

"Stop worrying about it," he told her as he removed his fist from her. "It's okay, and I don't want you blabbing about this to anybody, especially that good-for-nothing Sanji. He'd never leave me alone if he found out I was struggling, that bastard." Zoro broke out into a smirk. "Yesterday in Gym, I got him good with a dodge ball. Smacked him clear across the face."

Luffy brought her hand to her mouth to suppress a quite giggle. _Those two…_

"So what did Trafalgar say to you after the meeting, huh?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from himself. "It took quite a while."

"It was only like three minutes, tops," she corrected him.

Zoro shrugged. "That's a long time for somebody to wait around, you know? And I had no idea when you two were going to be done. Anyway, what'd he say?"

_Should I tell him the truth? Teacher said that he only did that with students he really thought were going to do great in his class and it might upset Zoro. He might end up thinking he's not good enough and his already dark mood might worsen._ "He just wanted to make sure I was doing okay in class, since I missed out on Monday's meeting. You're not the only one struggling." She felt wrong for lying, but she reasoned with herself that it was all in good intention. _Plus, that isn't exactly that far from the truth. Teacher does wants me to do well…I just don't need to add in the detail that he gave me his number._

"Oh," Zoro had said, nodding.

_He bought it._

"Well, then if you're struggling, I guess that idea of yours to hang out at your place this weekend to study is the best plan." He looked at his watch and frowned. "It's getting late and my mom is going to nag at me if I get home past curfew." He jumped off the swing set and retrieved his bag. "Come on, I'll walk you home since it's on the way to my place."

* * *

**Bartolomeo's POV**

_YOU ARE IN HUGE TROUBLE!_

Bartolomeo gawked at the text message. _Cavendish…what does that idiot want now?_ Placing his phone down on his pillow, he decided against responding; however, after no longer than a minute had passed by, the phone buzzed again.

Sighing, he reached for it. He knew it was most likely his…_friend_, if Cavendish could be considered as such, but there was always the possibility it was Luffy. Bartolomeo cherished ever message he received from her.

Unfortunately, it was the first.

_I know you're home. You better respond! You need to know how mad I am at you, and I cannot express it to you if you—_

The message cut off and another one arrived. He opened it.

_-won't answer my messages! So either text me back or call me. ASAP!_

Bartolomeo knew there was no way around the nagging of Cavendish. He would eventually have to communicate with the boy. It was only a matter of when and in what context. _I guess now is better than ever…_

He dialed the boy's number and waited for him to answer, only to shockingly be sent to voicemail. "_YOU BASTARD_!" Bartolomeo screamed into his phone. "Why tell me to call you if you're going to send me to voice mail, huh?" He ended the call in frustration. _People say I can be annoying but it's really Cavendish who is the annoying one!_

His phone came alive with another message.

_Now you feel the same frustration I feel. You may call me again, but this time I shall grace you with my voice and answer~_

Instead of recalling, his fingers typed a text.

_Fuck off, Cavendish. I have no time for your games._

Less than thirty seconds later, his phone rang out. _Oh, now he's calling me, huh?_ _Should I answer it or let him squirm in his anger? It would be fun to listen to him throw a fit though…_ Bartolomeo answered it. "Yeah?"

"How. Dare. You." Cavendish spoke slowly and in a low voice utterly filled with anger. "You should be _begging_ me to forgive you for what you did today, but instead you write such horrid words_. To me_!" He could hear the flamboyant boy picking at his nails. _He always picks at his nails when he's upset._

Rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath, he asked dully, "What did I do today?"

Cavendish gasped, taken aback. "Don't act like you don't know! You know how much of an idiot I looked like at lunch, eh? I was a total loner because you're horrible and left me alone. _WHY?_"

Blinking, he realized he had forgotten about the boy during lunch. _I was so engulfed by the idea of eating with Luffy I totally forgot that Cavendish would have to end up eating alone. _"Cavendish," he said slowly, almost sincerely. "_**GOOD!**_ You deserve to learn some humanity!"

"WHAT?!" he cried out. "How could you say something so cruel?"

"You're so full of yourself," Bartolomeo explained, knowing that Cavendish was too worked up to bother listening to anything he had to say. "It's not my fault you have nobody else to hang with at lunch."

"Ugh! I eat with you because I pity you," Cavendish had snapped back. "I didn't realize you had _other _friends. When were you going to tell me about them, huh? _WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME IN THE DARK?_"

He had to pull the phone away from his ear every time Cavendish screamed. "Stop yelling! I can have other friends, alright? I don't need your permission."

Unidentifiable mutters were heard from the other end. _He's grumbling to himself again…_

In an almost pouting voice, Cavendish asked, "You were with that mystery girl, huh?"

"No," he quickly answered.

"You answered too fast, which means you're _lying_! Why didn't you tell me it was with the girl, hmm? Is it because you're afraid of me finding out whom it is?"

"No, wait…"

"_Oh Bartolomeo~_" His tone had changed to a happier one. "You're doing this on purpose. You know how much I love playing the dashing detective and you really want me to figure it out on my own, huh?"

"No, shut up for a second and hold on…"

"_No, no, no,_" Cavendish had sung. "I will find out who she is, for I am the _greatest_—and might I say, most _handsome_—detective at our school. There is no denying my sheer _awesomeness_. You should have had told me from the very start you were going to mingle around with your little girlfriend, allowing me a head start on the search."

"You're not getting the point here."

"Oh, I absolutely get the point, Bartolomeo! And here I thought this whole time you were ditching me. No, I shouldn't think so negatively. I know more than anybody that I'm practically you're only friend."

He rolled his eyes.

"And I must ask, when shall this little girlfriend of yours join our group? I do say, the thought of adding another to our dining pleasures sounds quite exciting. Though…I may end up becoming a third wheel, which is not befitting of somebody like _me_."

"You don't have to worry about that," he had commented, trying to imply that Luffy would never join whatever little group he and Cavendish had going on.

"But I do!" the boy had countered, mood now turning into panic. "Yes, indeed, I do. You don't understand…I'll be left out…you two will have each other and where will that lead me? _**ALONE!**_"

"If you're so afraid of that, then why don't you find another friend to eat with, since you _obviously _have so many?"

"While that is true," Cavendish slowly said, "I cannot abandon you! I have sworn a vow to give you a male companion."

_I don't need a male companion. In fact, I don't need Cavendish. He just pushed himself on me one day and declared we were friends._

"Either way, I must find somebody of my own to claim, in order to balance out our group. It will be quite the rigorous task to do while I'm trying to figure out the identity of your lady, but nothing is too much for me, the _great_ Cavendish!"

Bartolomeo finally broke. "Fine, do what you have to do." _I get tired talking to him when he's like this._ "Just don't mess anything up."

"I promise you! I'll be as quite as a mouse but as determined as an eagle!" And with that, the phone call ended.

_That was…intense._ Bartolomeo tossed his phone across his bed and flopped down, green locks tumbling across his face. _I really hope he doesn't do anything to frighten Luffy off…_ His mind drifted off to what had happened when he got home.

His older brother was already home by that time, watching TV. When he entered the room, he had told Bartolomeo about how he has a class with Luffy. "I saw your little side ass," he told him, smirking that horrid smirk. "I have her for a class, you know?"

"Who?" Bartolomeo tried to play it off. Act like he had no idea what Kid was talking about.

"That Luffy chick," Kid had answered, switching the station to something more interesting. "She was sporting that cheer outfit. Looked real slutty if you ask me."

"No she didn't!" Bartolomeo had snapped back at him. Kid was always saying things to him to make him upset. "Don't talk about her like that." And he stormed off to his room after that, only to be bombarded by Cavendish's texts and phone call.

_This day went from perfect to just plain annoying._

* * *

**To be continued…**

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**Next time/coming up: **Raven.

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**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and newest reviews (From:** LazyFoxLover, nathalie8756, LazytoLogin, iilLurvePancakesii, nakcabttak2, Guest, Geniusly-Unique, 0Chrissie0!) **Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story!**

* * *

**Responses to certain questions/comments:**

**LazyFoxLover:** I've mentioned Vivi in chapter 1 (or 2), but she hasn't physically shown up yet. I have plans for her later on with Usopp's storyline *WINK WINK DOUBLE WINK* And I hope Zoro finally makes it to the lunch group. That shall be a glorious day worth celebration when he finally makes it. xD

**Nathalie8756:** Don't worry about it! I don't mind at all, and good luck on your exams! Kuina is sadly not alive, but I have plans of mentioning her death and how close Zoro and her were as kids. I was kind of going to use that as a way to show how Zoro and Luffy met and became close as kids (after Kuina's death.) You can bet Law's number is totes going to be used :D

**Lazytologin:** Maybe that's who I had in mind all this time for Zoro to pair up with? :D It might seem like it at first in chapter 17, but don't give up hope on the Zoro x Perona ship.

**Nakcabttak2:** I'll just say that the homecoming dance coming up will be Meo's big chance to woo Luffy.

**Guest:** I would think all teacher-creepers are nasty, haha.

**Geniusly-Unique:** 1\. :D 2. I'll message you, and yes, there is a reason for the whole Violet/Viola thing that will be discussed in this story. 3. :D 4. :DDDD 5. :D 6. :( I'll message you. Gosh, you're such a great detective!

**OChrissie0: **You're on the correct path.


	16. Raven pt 1

**Indian Summer|** 6.1 September 18th, Saturday

**Raven's POV**

Raven wobbled down the dank hotel hallway towards the elevator, dragging her tired feet across the torn red carpet. The walls were blurry, spinning almost, and her head pounded.

_What…is happening?_

She fell up against the wall, breathing heavily. Her chest felt tight, her legs weak. Her lips parted ways for her to call out for help but her voice got caught in her throat.

_This isn't right._

The night had seemed so perfect at the start, and something going wrong never crossed her mind. She remembered that day when he first called her, that young dashing handsome man. He told her on the phone that her friend Doflamingo had given him her number.

_He said he thought I looked pretty._

He had asked her out on a date, Saturday night. A nice dinner and maybe a movie, if she would like it. She thought she could trust Doflamingo's judgment. _If he thought this guy was a good match for me, then why not go for it?_ And when she called that friend of hers just to make sure, she never got ahold of him and Saturday night was drawing closer and closer.

So she bit the bullet and decided to go for it. _Mama always said I needed to be bolder with men, or else I'd end up alone._

She wore red; red dress, red heels, red lips. _Red is a good color_. And he wore black, sitting there in the restaurant dressed in a fine suit. _He looked rich, powerful even. Doflamingo had set me up with a good guy…_

He greeted her as if she was a princess, taking her hand and kissing it, asking her how she was, and pulling her chair out for her. _Nobody has even done anything of the sort for me. I'm a stripper, not a princess…but the way he made me feel in that restaurant…My heart almost jumped straight out of my chest!_

And they dined on the most exquisite of meals with the yummiest of drinks to top it off. _He paid for it, no matter the cost. He said I deserved to have anything off the menu. He poured me my drink when I left to freshen up in the bathroom._

_He poured me my drink…while I was gone…_

_My drink._

And when they finished, she felt amazing, bubbly even. He held her, propped her up as they walked to his car. _"Would you like to go to a hotel?" he had asked me by his beautiful car. I don't remember saying yes, but I ended up in it._

And he drove her to that hotel, ugly and vacant. "T-this is…not…pretty," she slurred to him.

He laughed quietly to that. She thought it was funny—for whatever reason—and decided to laugh along with him.

_He took me to that room, told me I was so beautiful. Asked me to lie down on the bed. Why did I do that? I don't know…_

When he got on top of her, she felt a fear enter her body. _No, this is wrong,_ she had told herself as he took off his jacket. _But his eyes…so alluring, and his smirk…_ When she had pressed her hands against his chest to push him back, he brushed them aside.

"No," she had managed to say, pressing up against him again. _No…no, no, no. Say it again. Say it louder._ Raven felt her eyes grow heavy.

"What do you do for a living?" he had asked her, ignoring her pleas and playing with the straps on her dress. "I must admit, I'm quite nervous about your answer since you're friends with Doflamingo."

"Doflamingo…Do…flamingo…" She muttered that man's name. _He's a viewer…he comes in a lot of days to watch us dance…_ "D…dancer…" she answered, hands reaching for her shoulders to pull her straps back on.

He paused. "A dancer? What type?" His body had grown tense on top of hers. His hand gently patted her cheek. "Hey, don't fall asleep just yet. Answer me."

"S-stripper." Her body felt so weak, so defenseless…_I want to go home. I'm scared._

He cleared his throat and pull back from her, as if he was offended. "You're a stripper?"

Her eyes struggled to keep open, but she managed to watch his confused expression grow sour. His face contorted into anger, disgust even. "A stripper?" he had repeated, more to himself than to her. "I thought you were something else…something…something _special_." He got off of her and sat on the edge of the bed, hands running through his hair. "You…you seemed so beautiful, so…so…so _pure!_"

She rolled off, falling to the floor. Her legs felt like stone, unable to move when she begged them to. She began to crawl.

"Why can't there be just one woman out there who _isn't _a slut?" he growled, getting up and heading for the small bathroom. He slammed the door and yelled out in anger. "You're all the fucking same!"

_God…what…what is happening? I need to leave, now. _She forced herself up, gasping from how tired her body was. There were so many doorknobs; her vision was messing with her. Something crashed in the bathroom and she shot her hand out at one of the doorknobs, feeling around until she found it. It took practically all her strength to pry it open.

And so, she slumped down the dark hallway, breathing rapid, heart pounding, head swimming around in circles. The rooms surrounding her appeared to be boarded shut.

_It looks abandoned. I…I don't remember seeing anybody on the way up here. Is there anybody?_

Her feet gave way underneath her and she had fallen just before the elevator. _We…we took the stairs._ Her hand slithered up the wall and pressed the down button. Nothing happened. _No…please…work! Dammit, work!_ The button clicked loudly with every quick press she gave it, but gave no signs of working.

"I thought you could be the _one!_" she heard him yell from down the hallway. Her head cocked back to watch him approach her.

"No!" she cried, trying to push him away when he grabbed her. He dragged her up, forcing her arm behind her back and waist under his arms grip.

"I really thought we would have something," he told her as he took her back to the room. "I really did…"

She was thrown into the room, body crashing into a drawer and body falling limp on the floor.

"Why are you trying to _hurt_ me?" he asked her, slamming the door shut.

"I'm…I'm not," she pleaded, forcing herself to scoot back away from him.

"Yes, yes you are," he countered. "I was real _nice_ tonight. Good even. I thought if I was good then I could be happy. But no…that just isn't going to work out for me, huh?"

"Who…who _are_ you…?" Her words trailed off, room growing dark. The last thing she remembered in that room was his face as he knelt on top of her.

Raven awoke a day later sitting on a chair in a room with no light. She was cold, sore, and wet, with mouth gagged, and arms and legs tied up. Her screams turned to muffles.

And at that moment, Raven regretted accepting that date.

* * *

**Next time/coming up:** Luffy and Zoro study session. Ace and Sabo giving Luffy her first talk.

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*****This isn't the end for Raven. There is so much more for her to come. Her identity will be revealed…soonish? You'll see.

*****So yeah, maybe Law is a bit OOC...or maybe _really_ freaking OOC, with some deep-rooted issues. But I need a crazy Law for this story to work xD

* * *

**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and for the newest reviews (From:** LazyFoxLover, Geniusly-Unique, Yuki Rivaillie, iilLurvePancakesii, and 0Chrissie0!)** Thank you so much for all the support!**

***watches ep 650*** Seriously, can Bartolomeo get anymore adorable? He is the cutest freaking fanboy ever.


	17. It's Our Jobs as Big Brothers

**Indian Summer|** 7.1 – September 19th, Sunday

**Zoro's POV**

Luffy flashed him another card, the word _Microvilli _written in black marker upon it, the definition hidden in the back. "What is this?" she had asked him, eyes wide and determined.

He shifted on his chair, elbows propped up on the dining room table and hands under his chin. _I know this word…I've seen it before…but…_

But he couldn't remember anything about it. Nothing at all. Everything drew to a blank.

His hands traveled up to his face, covering it as he sighed out in frustration. "I don't know."

"Come on," she whined, poking the card up against his hand. "You _have_ to know this one! This is the third time we've gone through this set of cards. I know you know it, Zoro…"

_She's always like this…stubborn. Ever since we were children, she'd never give up on something. And now she's dead set on making sure I remember these stupid words._

_Why did I even bother taking Anatomy? They told me I could do it, that I was smart enough to do it…but…but…_

He shook his head. "I remember the word," he muttered, "but it's hard to remember the definition."

She pouted. "Maybe you're just unsure of yourself." Her hand landed on his shoulder and she gently shook him until he removed his hands from his face to look at her. "How about you just try guessing?"

His brows lowered and he frowned. He thought long and hard, mind searching through memory banks for that little definition. A picture blew up in his thoughts, an image he remember Trafalgar sharing. "They're like these really tiny hair-like structures?"

Luffy nodded with a grin wide. "Yeah, yeah! You basically got it. What's the tissue though?"

He rubbed his head. "Uh…" _I __**know**__ this! Which tissue was it…? There were so many._ "Muscular?"

She cocked her head and slightly frowned. "No…guess again."

And so Zoro blurted out all the answers he could until Luffy stopped him at one particular one. "That's it! You got it!" She clapped her hands together. "Now you just need to remember that for the quiz, and make sure to write down _that_ answer as your first choice, okay?"

_Remember. That's the hard part._

"How do you do it, huh?" He asked when they finished studying. She aced her answers when he studied her with the cards, and when it came to him, he looked like some fool. _How is she able to remember them so easily while I…I just stutter around and mess everything up?_ He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. _And it's so hard because I don't want to come off as an idiot. Everybody looks at me like the tough guy…except for Sanji, that asshole. He'd love to find out that I have problems with remembering._

The memory of the day when that lanky blonde joined their small group flooded his mind. _It's was good when it was just Luffy, Usopp, me…and even Nami. Then he had to show up, cocky attitude and everything. And stupid Nami started following him around._

_She used to follow me around when we were kids._

He blinked when he realized where his mind was leading him. _No. Don't think about that. _He pushed himself up from his seat and went to Luffy's fridge, opening it and taking out a water bottle. _She's just some girl, full of drama and gossip…and she nags too much. Sanji and she can follow each other around for all I care._

_But then there are times where she seems to push him away…_ He took a sip of water and sat back down on the table. _She yells at him a lot, more than she does with me. Does that mean she prefers our friendship than theirs?_

"_**Zoro!**_" Luffy's voice had snapped into his thoughts. "Are you evening listening to me?"

He looked to her, taking in her sour expression. "What?"

She waved her hands around, face growing annoyed. "Ugh! I went into a full discussion about how Gramps said I can adopt a puppy next week, but you didn't hear a single word did you?"

"Puppy?"

"Yeah!" Her hands clasped together under his chin, eyes growing shinny. "A cute little puppy, just for me! He promised me one last year but never got around to it. But now…now he can't back out of it!"

"What type?"

Luffy glanced down and hummed in thought. "Mmmm…I'm not sure yet, but you should totally come over again after I get it, so you can play with it." She reached out for a plate of wafer cookies, dragging it across the table over to her. "These taste so good!"

_I don't get how she can jump from one thing to another like that. Unlike me…I can't hardly get my mind off of…off of…_He took some of the cookies and began to angrily chow down on them. _I already ordered you to stop thinking about it!_

* * *

**Luffy's POV**

She closed the front door gently when Zoro left. _He seemed so absent minded today. I wonder what gives._ Shrugging, Luffy quickly made her way up the stairs and towards her room, stopping just before her door when she heard suspicious laughter.

"What a total dork this dude is," Sabo's voice rang out.

"He's trying too hard to get her attention," Ace's voice agreed.

Her eyes went wide. _They're in my room!_ She quickly slammed the door open and cried out at what she saw. Sabo was sitting crossed legged on her bed with her phone in his hands with Ace laying down at the tail end of the bed with his legs slowly bouncing up and down, chin buried in his hands.

"_WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?_" she screamed, face red when both brothers looked up at her. She snatched her phone away and saw that her old messages with Bartolomeo were open. "Were you going through my _phone_?"

Sabo snickered. "I was just checking up on who you were chatting with," he said, shrugging. "Don't worry. I only got to that one dude…what's his name?"

"Tolo-something," Ace answered, pushing himself up to the sitting position.

She clutched her phone tightly, a mixture of emotions running through her…but mostly anger. "You guys are the worst! I can't believe you did that!"

"Stop overreacting," Sabo dully said, waving his hand dismissingly. "Plus, I think it's a big brother's right to know who's talking our little sister up."

"He's right," Ace nodded. "That's Tolo dude sure has sent you a lot of messages. Who is he, exactly, huh?"

"Probably her secret lover," Sabo sarcastically said, gasping afterwards. "They're probably making plans to run away together and get married. Luffy, you'll invite me to the wedding, right?"

"NO!" she cried out, face fully red. "It's not like that all!" She pointed to her door and stomped her foot. "GET OUT!"

Ace snickered. "Don't throw a fit," he ordered her calmly. "We're just asking questions."

Sabo sniffed his nose. "We were actually in here for something else, but I couldn't resist taking a peep when I saw your phone on your bed. If you really value your privacy, you should keep that thing with you at all times."

"That's right," Ace said, nodding in agreement. "But more importantly, we got some serious things to talk about."

"He's right," Sabo said. "Very serious."

Luffy crossed her arms. "You can't just start talking about something else to change the subject of you guys being total losers for snooping around through somebody else's phone!"

The two boys shared a look. "Yes we can," they both responded at once.

"I've taken all week to figure out how to say this," Ace began, crossing his arms. "But now I know how to: Luffy, as our sister, you cannot wear that cheer uniform!"

"_WHAT?_" Luffy asked, shocked. "Why?"

Ace coughed a bit. "B…because," he mumbled around. "It's…it's…"

"It's quite revealing," Sabo finished for him, shaking his head in shame. "I wouldn't go out in public wearing that." He cocked his head to the side and blinked. "Actually…" Getting up, he went for her closet and pulled the uniform out. "I think I would look dashing in this."

"Shut-up!" Luffy whined, snatching the outfit out of his grasp and throwing it back into her closet. "I have to wear that because I'm a cheerleader now, and there's nothing wrong with it. Gramps even saw it and he didn't seem to mind!"

"That's because Gramps is old, and doesn't remember what it's like to be around girls! That school is a pool of piranhas, Luffy, and you can't go wearing bait like that!" Ace jumped off her bed and shook her shoulders harshly. "YOU'LL GET EATEN ALIVE OUT THERE DRESSED LIKE THAT!"

"Stop it!" Luffy said, pulling herself away.

"Actually," Sabo muttered as he took another peak at the uniform, "it's not that bad as you described it on the phone, Ace. I don't even see the problem with it…"

"SEE!" Luffy said, pointing to Sabo. "He agrees with me. There's totally nothing wrong with it, Ace! I don't know why you're so worked up about it!"

Ace fluttered to the floor, eyes clamping shut as snores filled the room.

_That idiot! He can't just fall asleep in a middle of a fight!_

"Looks like Ace had enough for one night," Sabo mumbled, gently kicking at the boys arm. Turning to Luffy, he smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it, Luffy. We're just being protective big brothers, that's all."

"Who snoop around their sister's phone?"

He awkwardly laughed. "Yeah…but promise you'll watch out for yourself, alright?" His hand gently landed on her shoulder, squeezing it softly. "I will kick some ass if I have too."

"I can take care of myself," she mumbled as she watched Sabo drag Ace out of the room. _Nothing bad has happened yet…what could go wrong in the future?_

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time/coming up: **Homecoming dance and game…will somebody ask Luffy to the dance? Luffy's family gets a new pet…but it isn't exactly a puppy. An update on Raven…her family gets worried, so missing reports are submitted, but to which detective? Nami is against the idea of Bartolomeo hanging around Luffy so much…but why? And will Doflamingo ever fix his constipation problems?

* * *

*I know it looks like a ZoroxNamixSanji type of thing, but that may not be the entire case. Other potential love interests can always show up for these three characters...*wiggles eyebrows*

* * *

**Thank you to all the favers, followers, and for the newest reviews (From:** Skitty365, Geniusly-Unique, LazyFoxLover, Yuki Rivaille, iilLurvePancakesii, Guest, StariChanx, erchilli, BloodyMoonEclyps, and 0Chrissie0!) **Thank you so much for the support!**

* * *

**Responses:**

**Comments pertaining to crazy Law:** Lol, it seems you guys like crazy Law. I was nervous with that one, haha, but it seems to be receiving well with you guys. :D Law def. has a flip side personality in this story and they're totally be a backstory for him eventually as to why he does the things he do.

**LazyFoxLover:** Oh no, Law is going to be manipulative towards Luffy to get her to do..._things_. He won't need to rely on rape to get what he wants from her.

**iilLurvePancakesii:** Lol yeah, Ace and Sabo have plans to *protect* little innocent Luffy. They just don't have talks in store for her, oh no, they are brothers who take action! lol

**0Chrissie0:** [So... he's been bad before... Hurt more women that were in that type of work before maybe?] Not necessarily women in that certain line of profession, but you're on the right track. He does have a dark past that involves other characters already introduced in this story.

* * *

**Important notice:** So, starting today (6/25/2014), I'm going to take a two week break from updating. I started a summer course just now and it is very demanding of my time, not to mention it's a very hard and important course. I need to focus a lot of my time on this class because I *need* to get an A. During this two week break, I'll use what time I can to write chapters and store them up to upload during the next 8 weeks (that's how long my course is). I also might need to change up the update schedule. I'll keep you guys informed the next time I update. I'm sorry for doing this, and I hope y'all understand. A lot is on my plate right now and I really like where this story is going and how you guys are taking to it. In otherwords: I'm not abandoning this story, I'm just taking a two week break from uploading. :D


	18. Crocodile's Bad Day

**Indian Summer|** 8.1 – September 2oth, Monday

**Gina's POV**

The bubble of gum slowly expanded past her lips, growing larger and larger until it suddenly popped. Her tongue quickly retrieved the deflated candy back into her mouth, licking her lipstick coated lips. She pressed a polished nail onto the loudspeaker button and dully cleared her voice.

"This Friday will be the Homecoming game and dance. Our very own football team will be going up against a rival school…be sure to purchase your tickets if you wish to go. The dance will proceed after the game. Principle Crocodile has prepared a special assembly to discuss the dance this Wednesday."

She cleared her throat once more and sniffed. "That is all." Removing her finger from the intercom, she tossed the notecard she had read from containing the announcement of the dance and game into the trash bin. _It's so hard to read his writing sometimes…_she reflected as she quickly stole a glance towards Crocodile's office. His blinds were drawn down, secluding him from the rest of the school. _But I suppose it must be hard for him to write since he only has that one hand._

Shrugging, she turned to her computer and went to typing out memos. Gina's schedule was packed that day. Crocodile had meetings left and right, which wasn't uncommon. _That man always has something to say. Now it seems he's starting a war with the cheer coach. And look, the newspaper club wants a word with him. Doflamingo is requesting a sick vacation, but we all know it's because he's plugged up._ She snickered at that thought. _He should really learn how to eat better, and then stuff like that wouldn't happen in the first place._

His office door creaked open, but she knew better to sneak a look behind her. _He'd just bitch me out for stopping my work to look his way._ Her throat grew dry when she felt his presence behind her.

"Gina." His voice was dry, dull, and intimidating. "Who am I meeting with first today?"

"Your schedule book says that you having a quick meeting with the cheer coach, Boa Hancock, at 9:30 am," Gina read out. "She is in quite the rowdy mood, it seems. Says that you've threatened her pay…"

"Yes…I know all about that," Crocodile dully responded. "I don't plan on keeping her that long. I can only stand so much of her high-pitched complaining. Who is after her?"

"Well, at 10:30, you have a meeting with a student from the newspaper club, and after lunch at 1:00 pm, you've stated that you wanted to sit with the coaches to showcase the new sports members during the assembly on Wednesday."

He hummed to himself quietly, hand reaching out towards the book so he could get a better look at it. Her shoulders tensed up from the pressure of his forearm on her. Gina knew exactly what he was doing. _He's not trying to get a better look at that book…he's trying to get a better look down my shirt!_ It was nothing new for her, his advances and coy looks had grown over the few years that she worked for him. _He acts like this holy man who doesn't do anything wrong and nags his students all the time on proper manners, yet, at the same time, he hits on me while married!_

"How is your wife?" Gina asked simply, hoping that would cause him to remove himself from her, to which it did.

"She is…alright," he mumbled, pulling his arm away and turning towards his office. Before he entered, he cocked his head back and smirked. "That is a lovely blouse you have on today, Gina."

Her flesh shivered.

* * *

**Koala's POV**

Koala stumbled into the newsroom, holding her notebook tightly to her chest. She had just come from her meeting with the principle. _He's such an intimidating man!_ In truth, Crocodile scared her, as well as many of the other students, but it was her sole purpose to be a news reporter and to do so, she had to talk to the man.

_I am a news reporter…even if it's for a high school paper._

She slammed her notebook down on a table, earning the attention of the other students inside. "Alright," she said, "I just got back from my meeting with Principle Crocodile, and he has paid us to print out posters for this Friday's game and dance." She pulled out the blueprints for the poster and held it up for all to see. _It's horribly ugly and has all these rules on it, but he was quite specific that we publish __**this **__poster…_

A student cleared his throat. "Uh…Koala, that is the ugliest poster I've ever seen! Nobody will want to go to the dance after looking at that eyesore."

"I know, I know," Koala responded, leaving the paper on the desk so she could cross her arms. Pouting, she added, "The principle was pretty pushy that we publish this poster. What am I supposed to say, huh? '_Sorry, bubby, but that looks like crap, and __**The Revolution**__ doesn't publish crap'_?"

Several of the students nodded their heads, causing her to huff out in frustration.

"It's harder than that! How about one of _you_ doing it? That guy is scarier than a pack of ravaged dogs!" She turned to face one of the other students, Coby. "What do you think, freshman?"

He titled his head to the side and slightly frowned. "Well, I don't want to go tell Crocodile otherwise…what _can_ we do? You're the president, you come up with something!"

Koala rolled her eyes. _Freshmen._ "Alright…" She tapped her finger against her lips, leaning up against a table and glancing down to the floor, deep in thought. "We can always design another poster…and just post both of them?"

"That's a good idea!" another boy commented. "We can just glue the principle's poster in some corner that most students won't even bother seeing, and we can plaster around our version all over the school! And if he says anything, we can say that we _did_ hang up his!"

Grinning, she snapped her fingers and nodded. "Okay, guys, lets design us a poster for the Homecoming game!"

"And dance!" Coby quickly added.

"As if you're going, freshmen," a girl snickered.

He blushed, looked away, and muttered something quietly to himself.

_That kid…_

* * *

**Doflamingo's POV**

"Hancock, baby, my back's killing me," Doflamingo whined as he sprawled out across a table. The principle had called them in for a meeting, to discuss events to showcase during the assembly. _I don't have time for this…none of us do! We got students to coach, shits to take…_

"What do you want me to do about it?" the woman snarled back, long slender legs crossed as she slumped back in a chair. The small gymnasium office they waited in was hot, and little beads of sweat would occasionally travel from the nape of her neck down into the V of her blouse.

Doflamingo smiled a coy smile. "Well, since you _offered_, you can always _rub_ it for me. My back, I mean, but that doesn't mean you can't go for a little _adventure._"

Hancock made a disgusted face. "I wouldn't dare place my beautiful hands upon your retched skin, you disgusting man." Her eyes traveled down to his legs and quickly shot back up. "And please remove yourself from that position! I can see _things _because of those tiny little shorts of yours!"

Rolling over to his side and resting his hand into his head, he frowned. "You know you liked what you saw. Besides, you wouldn't be able to handle all that _man_."

"Will you two shut the hell up?" Blackbeard growled from his corner of the room. He was hunched over a portable whiteboard, right hand clutching a blue marker and left hand rubbing his face. "I have to plan out a strategy for Friday's game. What the hell is Crocodile thinking? I don't have time for any of this crap."

"He is quite the inconsistent man," Olvia muttered from her seat next to the table. Her hands were rested gently upon its surface, face composed. "Late to his own meeting…I have both Volleyball and Basketball to coach, but yet I have to send my students to free sports in order to tend to whatever silly business he has to discuss."

Doflamingo smirked. _Even though she's clearly upset about Crocodile wasting everybody's time, she keeps her composure and tone of voice calm. I wonder if she's ever snapped at that son-in-law of hers._ "Well, Olvia, you must be sure to bring that up the next time you guys have a family dinner."

She didn't seem so pleased to hear that remark.

It was silent by the time Crocodile decided to grace the coaches who decided to show up to his emergency meeting. He didn't seem to catch any of the annoyed looks sent his way when he entered, quickly clearing his throat and taking a seat. "As stated in last night's memo, we need to plan out a routine for this upcoming assembly."

"Indeed," Hancock huffed, crossing her arms. "How about we start with not being late?"

Crocodile narrowed his eyes. "I had rather important matters to attend to, that is why I arrived later than I stated I would." He pulled out a stack of papers from the folder he brought with him. "I have written here that I'll start off the assembly by giving a speech."

_One of his oh-so-famous boring as fuck speeches. I hate them so much._

Crocodile pressed the tip of his pen to the paper and paused. "Which sport would like to appear first?" He glanced up when nobody said anything. "…?"

"For fuck's sake," Blackbeard growled as he wiped away his game plan. "I don't have time for this shit. Sign up my boys for last, since this assembly _is_ about them, right?" He pushed himself up from his seat. "They're waiting out there for me to tell 'em what to do, so if you excuse me, principle."

Crocodile dully waved his hand, dismissing the football coach. "Hancock, should we open with your girls?"

_Ah, why does Blackbeard get out of these dumb meetings so easily? Why can't I leave?_ Doflamingo pouted.

"Fine," Hancock muttered as she gazed at her nails. "This assembly needs more cheer, not boring speeches." She cocked a brow.

_Ah snap, Hancock is starting shit again. What's Crocodile gonna do about it?_

Crocodile wrote something down on his paper. "If you have an issue with my opening speech, then we can discuss it in my office at a later hour. For now, we need to figure out a schedule."

From the corner of his eye, Doflamingo caught a slight smile play around with Olvia's lips.

"It's surprising you put more effort into this event than you do your own marriage," she commented.

"_Holy shit_," Doflamingo whispered, unable to control himself.

The principle's pen was gently placed upon the table. Slowly folding his hands together, Crocodile retorted with, "There is a time and place for family matters, Olvia. Please refrain from discussing personal matters as such in front of others."

Hancock snorted, keeping whatever commentary she had on the matter to herself.

Doflamingo desperately wanted to comment on the situation, but even he had _some_ self-control. _People like Olvia and Blackbeard can get away with talking crap to Crocodile, but if I dare say something wrong, he'll have me fired within the hour._ Instead, the coach kept to his thoughts, trying his hardest not to make a snarky comment.

Olvia shrugged to Crocodile's request. "It's hard for a mother to sit by and say nothing about the wrong doings done upon her daughter."

Crocodile scoffed. "_Wrong doings?_ You want to bring up _wrong doings?_ How about we talk about her whoring herself out to those college boys? Do you think I enjoy coming home to find her flirting it up on the phone with those cocky brats?"

Once again, Olvia shrugged. "Maybe if her husband put more effort into the marriage, she wouldn't have to look elsewhere?"

Hancock was laughing up a fit by this point.

Shaking his head, Crocodile got up and pressed the creases in his vest down. "I think we're done here. Hancock, you're girls will go first, followed by Doflamingo's track teams, then by Olvia's teams, ending it all with the football team running out on stage like the champions they are." And with that, he left.

"I'm sorry about that little scuffle," Olvia said calmly as she got up. "Fights with him come easily, even if we do have an audience watching." She bided them a good afternoon before leaving.

Doflamingo quickly sat up on the table, crossing his legs and happily looking at Hancock like a boy who just discovered porn. "Holy fucking shit, Hancock! Did you just _see_ that?"

She rolled her eyes. "I _was_ in the room."

"I know…I know, but what I meant was: wasn't that the coolest fucking thing you ever saw?"

"Not exactly," she mumbled, smiling as chewed on a fingernail. "But it was highly entertaining. I didn't realize the '_perfect_ _principle_' was suffering from a nasty little marriage. Seems even his own wife can't stand him, not that I blame her. That man is insufferable."

He shook his head in agreement. "He's no fun either. I once tried to get him to go to the nudie bar, but I ended up with a whole lecture about how it '_demoralizes women._' What the actually fuck, right?" He laughed.

Hancock took in a deep breath before getting up. "I don't even know who is worst: him or _you_." She left him alone in the room.

_What…What did I say?_

* * *

**To be continued…**

**Next time/coming up:** Homecoming dance and game…will somebody ask Luffy to the dance? Luffy's family gets a new pet…but it isn't exactly a puppy. An update on Raven…her family gets worried, so missing reports are submitted, but to which detective? Nami is against the idea of Bartolomeo hanging around Luffy so much…but why? And will Doflamingo ever fix his constipation problems? Trouble with marriage for Principle Crocodile? Will the assembly turn out a success?

* * *

**Important:** The reason why I'm updating this during my two week break is to tell you guys what's going on right now. So, as it seems right now, I won't have all that much time to update/write during the next seven-six weeks. I'll try to update maybe once a week, but there may be times where I won't update for a week. I'm really sorry about this, but my course is my number one priority at the moment. This isn't forever, just for the summer...and maybe the fall. I might have to wait till winter break to return back to my regular 3 days a week updating schedule.


	19. A Bad Stomach Ache Pt 1

**Indian Summer|** 8.2

**This chapter takes place the same time as the previous chapter…**

**Luffy's POV**

Her heart pounded in her chest. It wasn't as if she had done any strenuous activity, nor had she gone through any recent emotional distress; no, Luffy's life was perfectly normal at that point and time. She had her bowl of cereal, glass of orange juice, plate of muffins, and all her homework and assignments were ready to be turned in for that day. There were no tests that she knew of and she didn't suspect any pop quizzes but…

_But why do I have this nervous feeling in my gut?_

The question looped around in her head and it bothered her that she had no answer. Taking a scoop of rainbow colored pebbles into her mouth, she flicked her stare upwards to watch Ace. He—after woofing down his breakfast—was knocked out, with tongue hanging out across the marble table top. She could swear she heard him mutter something about some female teacher in his sleep, but she decided not to pay it any attention. _Besides, why should I get involved in Ace's life? I definitely don't like it when he digs into mine._ Frowning, she remembered back to the previous night where she walked in on her two brothers digging through her phone. She had _not_ forgiven them yet, and she had no plans on doing so anytime soon.

"When are you two heading off to school?"

Luffy cocked her head to see Sabo leaning in the doorway. She didn't realize he was still at the house. "Shouldn't you have left already?"

"Class was canceled," he answered after yawning. "Thought I'd stick around here for the day, you know?" He went for her plate of muffins but her instinct was faster as she pulled the plate away from him. Widening his eyes, he smirked and slowly said, "_**Sorry**_! I should have known better than to go for the little gremlins snacks!" While he laughed at his little joke, Luffy rolled her eyes, clearly not as pleased as he was.

"I'm going to school whenever _he_ wakes up," she answered after storing away her muffins in the safe haven of her backpack; a snack for later. "And he does this almost every morning…doesn't he realize we have to leave?"

Poking his younger brother's ear, Sabo smiled and said, "Just wake him up, yeah?"

Ace jumped up and shot his hand to his ear, rubbing it viciously. "What was that…?" Glancing around, he frowned when he caught Sabo laughing. "You seriously need to stop sticking your finger in my ear," he grumbled before getting up and tossing on his backpack. "Ah, crap: Look what time it is! Luffy, why didn't you wake me sooner!"

"It's not my job to be your alarm clock!" Luffy whined. Getting up, she quickly disposed of her bowl and glass into the sink, twirling around and pointing one long finger at Ace. "Now let's go _already!_"

* * *

First period had gone by smoothly, with the nauseous feeling she had in the morning subsiding. Violet—during their free writing—had absentmindedly babbled on about the upcoming assembly, going on and on about how excited she was to see Luffy and the rest of the cheer squad perform.

"You're going to look so amazing up there, Luffy," she had gushed. "Are you girls going to perform the same dance as the one for the game?"

Shaking her head, Luffy said, "No, it's going to be a bit different. Coach Hancock is saving some flashy moves for the game."

Violet nodded, smiled, and went on to tell Luffy all about the dress she was going to wear to the dance. Luffy silently listened, wondering if she too, would go to the dance.

Her stomach began to hurt again.

* * *

Second period dwelt a blow she wasn't expecting. Sitting by her seat in the front of the class was Kid. He had arrived _before_ she did and had the nerve to sit next to _her _seat. Usually, she had the front row of seats of the theater to herself, yet now…_What is he doing there?_

His stare slowly lifted from his boots and found its way to her. Luffy's body tensed in the doorway, and she would have stayed there if not for the group of students trying to get in behind her. "Move it along," one of them called out from outside, voice dull and clearly tired. Frowning, she did just that.

"_You_." It was all she could muster up and while she didn't mean for it to come out in a mean tone, she couldn't take it back. Sitting down and making sure to scoot off into her seat as far away as possible from Kid, she glanced once more at him.

He was smirking.

"You're early," she told him, pulling her notebook out and placing it lightly on her lap. "And sitting here…" She slowly glanced down at her hands, folded tightly over her notebook.

"_So?_" The way he said the word caused her to look back up at him, surprised. He sounded amused, and the way he looked down at her made her feel cold. Goosebumps began to crawl up her legs.

However, before she had a chance to respond to him, Bon Clay strolled in, eyes glossy and cheeks pink. "O, children!" he gasped, twirling around and clapping his hands together. "The assembly is this Wednesday! Aren't you excited?"

A few weak mumbles of agreement traveled across the room, but it was no match for the teacher's obvious excitement. Shaking his hips, Bon Clay added, "From what I heard, the Principle is meeting up with the coaches to design a schedule for the performers." One finger shot up and pointed directly at Luffy. "And our dearest Luffy is one of them. Now, applaud for her."

Luffy's face went red when only a couple of the students gave her said applause. She could feel Kid smirking down at her, those golden eyes digging into her skin. While he did not clap, she oddly felt as if he was indeed interested. "Uh, thanks," she mumbled, forcing a stare up at the teacher.

But he was staring back, eyes wide and mouth slightly jarred. "Is that Mr. Eustass, sitting in the front?" The question was more to himself than to the class, yet his astonishment was enough to earn a few curious stares from the students sitting behind them. "Have you had a change of heart and decided to take this class seriously?"

"Not a chance in Hell," Kid snorted back, folding his arms behind his head. "How about you play the movie and stop gushing over the assembly?"

Bon Clay shook his head, but nevertheless headed towards the television set, flipping on the DVD player. "One day you'll regret not taking your education seriously."

When ten minutes had passed, Luffy more comfortable in her seat and used to the idea of the redhead sitting next to her, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Glancing over, she saw Kid's hand retreat. "What?" she asked in a whisper.

"Are you into Bartolomeo?"

The question was blunt yet it stabbed at her shaper than any knife could. Taken aback, she cocked her head to the side, widening her eyes. "_What?_" _Into Bartolomeo…what does he mean…?_

Kid only rolled his eyes. "You heard me."

Luffy felt her face grow hot. "Watch the movie," she ordered, gripping the edges of her notebook. While he decided not to bother her anymore and watch the film, Luffy herself felt a mess for the rest of the class. _Why would he ask that?_ _That's such a personal question!_

_Are you into Bartolomeo…?_ Her throat grew dry and she shook her head, deciding it was a silly question. _He's my friend! That's that._ Nodding, she pushed the thoughts away and forced herself to pay attention to the rest of the film.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N: **Short chapter, but I wanted to give an announcement. I've been gone, that's obvious enough to most of you. Sorry about that. Really, I am. The past four/five months have been quite difficult in terms of my education, and well, life. But I should have more and more time to work on this story. Again, I want to apologize for the long gap.

**A shout-out to everybody who followed, faved, and reviewed this story. Thank you so very much! This means so much to me and I love each and every one of you so much for even reading this story. You're all amazing. Thanks to those who recently reviewed (**StariChanx, nakcabttak2, 0Chrissie0, kanji855, patch7-8-9, pseudonym08, huskylover149, Ubermarine, simswimsbob, I love my Chewbacca family, .chupa.x, maplecritic, darkcielo20, samiam2468, and of course all of the Guests)!** Thank you to all the new followers/favers, and I will give all of you a special shout out at the end of this story. And most of all, thank you to everybody who took the time to actually read this.**


	20. A Bad Stomach Ache Pt 2

**Indian Summer| 8.3**

**Luffy's POV**

Luffy entered her fourth period and found Sanji at the kitchen counter, glancing over his notes. When she approached him, his eyes lazily lifted off the paper and onto hers. He smiled.

"_Luffy!_" he said, causally tossing the notebook aside. "I need your help."

When Sanji's hands took her own, she felt nervous as to what his request would be. "What is it?" she mumbled weakly, blinking twice. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes!" he said, almost a whine. "I need to figure out a way to get Nami to go to the dance with me. Won't you help?"

Cocking her head, Luffy blinked once more. _The dance…?_ Then it hit her, eyes going wide and more opening. "O, you want to go with Nami?" Her voice cracked as she tried to control her excitement. _Does Sanji…does he like Nami?_ She felt her cheeks grow hot, not because of jealousy, but from pure and utter excitement. _Does Nami even realize this?_ She, herself, never put two and two together, not until now, but the thought of her two friends becoming more than that brought a strange joy.

_It's an odd feeling, yet I can't but feel happy right now._

Sanji's own eyes slightly widened. "Yes, I do," he spoke, softer this time. "The thought of her going with anybody else makes me…angry. I don't know why, but I have this need to protect her, you know?" He took his hands away from hers and brought them together over his chest. "You can help me, right?"

Luffy couldn't help but grin. "Of course!" she chirped. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

Leaning in towards her ear, Sanji whispered, "I need you to convince her to go to the dance." A frown formed on his lips. "I asked her last week if she was even going, but kept quiet. I don't think she's allowed…you know how strict her mom is."

_Yes…_Luffy knew Nami's mother well enough to understand Sanji's point. The woman was strict—not to any extreme, but nevertheless a bit hard in raising Nami and his sister. _She's just the worrisome type…and she loves Nami so much._ Tilting her head, Luffy nodded. "I'll talk to her at lunch and I'll figure out if she's going or not. And then what happens after that?"

The smile returned back to Sanji. "Then I ask her." He shrugged then. "And if her mom won't allow her to go, then I don't have to worry about some other sleaze hitting on her."

"Then what about you?"

"I'll just ask another girl out."

Luffy felt all excitement leave her as annoyance began to dance across her face. _You idiot! You can't go to the dance with another girl if you're trying to get with Nami…unless…Is he even interested in her like that? _She frowned as she began to second guess her original thoughts about Nami and Sanji. _Maybe I read into it wrong and Sanji is just…just…_ "Don't be a stupid player, Sanji!"

Cocking his brow, the boy opened his mouth to speak only to be silenced by the ringing of the bell. He gave her a confused stare before heading over to his seat, the opposite side of the kitchen station from Luffy's spot. Luffy only narrowed her eyes at him, digging into the back of his head.

Zeff slumped in, his face clearly painted in a foul mood. "Listen up," he began, harshly. He started going on about fire hazards and what not, but all Luffy could focus on was her internal thoughts.

_He better not lead Nami on only to smooth talk other girls!_ While Luffy would never admit to being oblivious to certain things, she _did_ know Sanji was a flirt, and a big one at that. She, herself, never took Sanji's flirting seriously when he directed his attention to her, but the thought of Nami getting lead on angered her, even if it was by another friend. _But then again…I may be looking into this whole situation too much. Maybe Sanji doesn't see Nami in that way?_

A soft voice caught her attention. "Luffy…?"

Blinking, she turned her attention away from Zeff to find a concerned Bartolomeo. "Hmm…?" she muttered, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Is everything okay?" he whispered so not to catch the attention of the already moody teacher. "You look…worried."

"Oh," she responded, glancing down. "No, everything is fine." Luffy returned her stare back to the front of the class, yet she could still feel Bartolomeo staring at her. That pesky knot in her stomach began to bug her once more.

_Are you into Bartolomeo?_

Her brows lowered and as she tried desperately to take notes on Zeff's lecture, she couldn't help but dwell on that single question. _Who even asks something like that? I mean, I guess it would get it if it were asked by somebody like Nami…but Kid? Bartolomeo's own brother? What's he trying to get at…?_ She slowly side-glanced the green-haired boy, watching as he quickly jotted down notes. _Maybe he was just asking if we were friends…_ Deep down inside, not even she bought that explanation, but it was enough to ease her mind for the time being.

Closing her eyelids, she took a deep breath and began to take notes. _You need to clear your mind and focus on one thing right now: the cheer routine. _By Hancock's demands, the girls had to perfect their performance for both the upcoming assembly and homecoming football game. Each event had its own special routine and one mistake could mean the end. Wincing, Luffy felt her tummy tighten up. _Maybe that's why I feel bad? I'm nervous about the dance…ugh, I feel like I'm about the barf!_

Her hand shot up.

"Yes?" Zeff called out, eyes squinting to get a better look at her.

Her voice was weak. "Uh, is it alright if I go to the nurse?"

Zeff paused for a moment and shrugged. "Sure," he said as he went to his desk to fish around for a pass. "Here."

Quickly collecting her things, she sent a blank stare to the confused Bartolomeo and Sanji and went up to the front to collect her pass. "Thanks," she mumbled softly.

* * *

She stared blankly up at the ceiling of the nurse's office, counting the dots of the odd pattern. The black couch underneath her was quite comfortable, slowly sucking away her energy and beckoning her to drift away. Nurse Caroline had told her lay down, deeming her to have just an upset tummy, so Luffy ultimately didn't feel so guilty for bailing out in the middle of class.

"Lay down for a while, alright?" the nurse had ordered softly. "If you don't mind, I need to step out for a bit to collect some important paperwork. You're the only one in here, and I'll keep the door shut so other students don't wonder in. Is that alright?"

Luffy had agreed to the nurse's request and since that time, ten minutes had passed by. She began to wonder if she should continue to stay there, wasting away class time.

_Well…cooking isn't my favorite class, so maybe it would be okay to just wait until lunch starts. Although, I will be missing out on any food the class makes…_Pressing her hand down on her abdomen, she felt her stomach rumble. _How can you be hungry yet at the same time have a stomach ache?!_ She couldn't help but laugh at herself.

The sound of the doorknob turning caught her attention. She tilted her head to the right, watching as the door opened slowly. At that moment, she opened her mouth to greet who she assumed was the nurse, only to shut it quickly upon realizing it wasn't.

Trafalgar entered.

He didn't even notice her as he went straight for the nurse's medicine cabinet. Casually opening it, he began to look at random bottles and containers, fingers tapping against the shelves as he did so.

Feeling awkward about him not knowing she was there, Luffy pushed herself up to lean on her elbow, still partially laid down. "Mr. Trafalgar…?" She kept her voice low, as not to startle him too much.

His piercing stare quickly darted over to her side of the room, widening ever so slightly when he found her. The bottle he was examining was gently placed on the shelf before he closed the cabinet, still watching her. "Miss Monkey," he said, "you startled me."

"I'm sorry," she quickly shot back. She hadn't meant to, yet she didn't want to sit there like some creeper and not inform him of her presence. "I was, uh, laying here and when you came in, uh…well…"

His hand rose up to stop her. "It's alright. I was just checking up on the school's supply of medicine and I didn't expect anybody in here since the door's close. Where is the nurse?"

"Oh, Nurse Caroline left…had to go do something about important paperwork. I don't know when they'll be back, though." Luffy glanced down at Trafalgar's shoes after meeting his stare. "Um…do you want me to go?"

Shaking his head, Trafalgar made his way over to her side of the room, leaning up against the wall and crossing his arms. "You were here first, Miss Luffy. It would be rude of me to order you out. What are you doing here…?"

"My stomach was hurting," she answered softly. "The nurse told me to lay down here for the rest of fourth period."

"Were you given any medical exams?"

Luffy shook her head no.

Rolling his eyes, Trafalgar went for Nurse Caroline's desk. "He is a lazy nurse," he muttered, more to himself. "You might be sick for all we know…" He pulled out a thermometer and quickly placed an ear protection piece on it. "Here, I'll take your temperature." When he approached the coach, she quickly sat up, blinking when he sat down in the empty space.

"Oh…" she mouthed when he pulled her hair back to insert the machine into her ear. For a moment, his fingers lingered in her locks until he pressed his free hand gently on her forehead.

"You don't feel feverish," he said before taking out the thermometer. "And the readings here are perfectly normal. Is it a sharp pain in your stomach?"

"No, but I don't think I'm sick either. It feels as if my stomach is all knotted up." Her eyes slowly feel to her kneecap, blinking when she noticed his hand was there. Looking back up at him, she added, "I don't know what's wrong."

"Do you feel stressed?" He got up from his seat to return the thermometer. Lingering at the desk, he slowly glanced back at Luffy, waiting for an answer.

"Maybe…" It made sense to her at that moment that stress may be the reason for her upset stomach. She did have a lot on her plate, what from the cheer routines to Kid's stupid comments. "Do you think that's it?"

Trafalgar smirked. "I think I see a student who has a lot to do. You're a smart girl from what I can tell, and you seem to want to keep your grades up. And then there's the cheer and I've heard Hancock can be demanding in routines. This is only the first month of the school year and look at all you have to do, Miss Luffy." Crossing his arms once more, he nodded. "Take it easy from time to time and you won't have these tummy problems. Focus on one thing at a time, and the pressure will get easier."

His words were true and she felt almost happy at that moment. _Its good advice…and I bet he knows more about this sort of stuff. _Smiling, she looked up into his eyes. "Thanks!"

Trafalgar began to head for the door, but stopped. "Will you be coming to tutoring afterschool tomorrow?"

"I think so," she answered before lying back down. "I think it might help with the pressure if I come in more," she added.

Trafalgar nodded and left.

Taking a deep breath, Luffy smiled, happy for the brief talk. _He may look like an intimidating guy…but he's pretty nice._

* * *

**Trafalgar's POV**

Law's heart pounded hard in his chest as he stood in the hallway, eyes wide and fingers twitching. He hadn't meant to get caught in there. _Especially not by her._ There was a dire need for certain medicines…_I need them for a…a…an experiment, but I can't risk buying them at a store._ Frowning, he glanced back towards the nurse's office.

And then, a sly smile took over. It oddly felt…_exciting_, this game—whatever it may be—he was playing. _Was it fate for me to walk in the one time she was in there?_ Swallowing, he began to walk down the hall. _That girl…Luffy…_ Brining his fingers up to his cheek, he remembered the feel of her dark hair against his flesh.

_Can I go down this road again?_

Licking his lips, his eyes fluttered shut as he recalled years long forgotten, back when he was still a young student earning his degree in teaching. _This is a different situation…yet, oddly the same. It would be a risk…and if I were to make one mistake, I would have to go into hiding. Again. _At that moment, against all mental warnings his brain screamed at him, Trafalgar decided to act upon all urges.

_It's time that I start up a game with Miss Monkey. She might possibly win._

And for her sake, he hoped she would win.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Not going to lie, for a moment, I considered having Law take Luffy's temperature the old fashion way, through the bottom. lOl. That would have been just one hell of an awkward scene.**

**Next time/coming up:** The homecoming dance and game is coming…will somebody ask Luffy to the dance? Luffy's family gets a new pet…but it isn't exactly a puppy. An update on Rave: her family gets worried, so missing reports are submitted, but to which detective? Nami is against the idea of Bartolomeo hanging around Luffy so much, but why? Trafalgar starts a game with Luffy, but will she win? And what would happen is she lost? Bartolomeo is going to be called on to do something big…even if it pisses his brother off.

**Thank you to everybody who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this story! The support is beyond amazing and I'm just honored to have you lovely people reading it. Thanks!**

* * *

**Responses:**

**Patch7-8-9:** Yes, I'm back! And hopefully for a long time! Thanks. : )

**Toraffles:** O, thank you so much! Ah, I'm sorry you had to go to my other stories because I was gone. Hopefully, I won't have to do that again (or at least, anytime soon)! Yes, Kid, that asshole xD But like you said, he's lovable. A big lovable asshole. Lol

**Huskylover149:** Thank you, and thank you for understanding! I'm glad it's getting more interesting! Again, thanks! : D

**Kanji855:** Well, there are multiple pairings throughout this story, but I'm going to guess that you're asking about Luffy's paring, huh? I don't want to give it away just yet, but keep your eyes on Bartolomeo, Kid, and Law. There is going to be another contender for Luffy's affections, but I'm keeping them under lock and key because I want to make it a plot twist, haha. Thanks for reading!

**Nakcabttak2:** Yeah, I like the idea here too much to give up on it. To be honest, I'm feeling less than excited for my other story ideas and I don't know if I'm going to continue them, but with this story, I plan on finishing. And from my outline, it's going to be lonnnnng, haha. Thank you so much for your support! :'D


	21. Trying to ask her out to the Dance

**Indian Summer| 8.4**

**Bartolomeo's POV**

Bartolomeo's palms were beyond sweaty. His heart shattered against his ribcage and his blood pounded through his veins. One single question circulated in his mind, tormenting him to no end.

_What's wrong with Luffy?_

She had abruptly left for nurse's office in the middle of fourth period, with no word as to why. _Is she sick? Is she hurt? What is __**wrong **__with her?!_ It terrified him ever so much to even imagine something wrong with her.

_But why…? Why does this bother me so much?_

His cheeks grew red, and he tried his best to make sure the blonde walking beside him wouldn't notice. _Sanji…Luffy's friend…_ He didn't seem to know what was troubling her either and he even told Bartolomeo it would be best if they just went to lunch to wait for Luffy to return. "She won't dare miss lunch," Sanji had stated, confidently so. "Best we should just go wait for her at the spot."

Bartolomeo agreed that it was a good plan, yet part of him felt it would have been better to try the nurse's office first, just to check. _But she might not even be there…_Sighing, he continued to follow the blonde over to the area where Luffy's group always met up.

"And she didn't mention anything to you?" Sanji asked suddenly as they approached the area.

Bartolomeo shook his head no, glancing around and frowning when he failed to spot Luffy out. _She's not here…_

But Zoro, for once, was there. The fellow green-haired boy sent them a coy stare, only to narrow it when his eyes shifted to the right, towards Sanji. "Oi," he spoke, voice annoyed, "Where's Luffy? Doesn't she have class with you, idiot?"

"The only idiot around here is you," Sanji snapped back and Bartolomeo could feel the tension radiating from the blonde. "And Luffy's sick or something, I don't know." Shrugging, he went over to where Nami and Vivi sat, offering them both a semi-bow. "My ladies~!"

Violet, who was chowing down on some rice next to Usopp, sent a confused look over to Bartolomeo. "Is it true?" She asked, calmly so, but with a hint of concern. "Is she sick?"

"I don't know," Bartolomeo answered. "I hope she's not…" It upset him to think she was sick…strange as that was. He couldn't figure out why he felt as such. _She's a friend, that much I know. And…maybe…I do like her…a lot…_His heart began to pick up again. He never admitted it to himself, yet he knew deep down inside he did have some sort of affection towards the girl.

That was also the reason as to why he determined the night before he would ask Luffy out to the dance. _I planned on asking her during lunch, but she's not here. And…and if she said no…_His eyes widened. _I don't know what I would do. I would look like a big idiot, in front of all her friends!_

A voice pulled him out of his panic. "Hey, Bartolomeo!" He turned to see Usopp waving at him from under a cherry tree. "Come over here and eat with us."

Violet nodded, with a big smile planted across her face. "You look lonely over there," she added softly. "Don't worry about Luffy."

Hesitantly, he went over there and took a seat. While the area was of Luffy's group, it seemed to be broken up into three main sections: Nami, Vivi, and Sanji being one, Zoro his own, and the three of them. Of course, they were all close to each other, but from his perspective, the sections seemed to focus on themselves.

_If Luffy appears, who will she sit with?_ Glancing down, he hoped it would be his section. When he finally looked back up to the other two sitting by him, he noticed Usopp was going on about something.

"You're on the football team, aren't you?" the boy asked happily.

"Um, yeah," Bartolomeo quickly answered. "Well…not really. I just sit in for the games in case they need an emergency backup player. I'm too young to be one of the main players."

"Oh?" Violet said, blinking. "That's not fair. I think juniors can play just as good as the seniors…you should show the coach how good you are."

While he knew she was being kind, he couldn't help but muttered out, "You have no idea if I'm good or not." A brief look of shock went across the girls face and she glanced down at her shoes. He didn't exactly mean for it to come out as cold as it did, but he still meant it all the same. _People shouldn't be that kind…_

_Luffy is kind…_

_Her friends are kind…_

Frowning, he closed his eyes and instantly thought of his older brother. Years of growing up with Kid's mean tricks and nasty snide comments made Bartolomeo weary of anybody kind. And compliments were few and far between. A pinch of guilt went through him when he opened his eyes to see Violet's sad gaze.

"Oh," she mumbled softly. "Sorry…"

While he didn't respond, he told himself he should try harder to be nice. _Don't turn into Kid…but at the same time, can I trust these people? Can I trust their kindness? _And in a way, it was the same as asking if he could trust Luffy. The moment he first saw her, he knew that she was good…soft hearted yet fierce in the eyes. She was somebody he wanted to get to know, to understand, to befriend.

And as his heart began to grow heavy throughout the past couple of weeks towards this girl, he realized that maybe, just maybe, they could be more than friends one day. _Maybe Luffy will end up being more than just a crush. Maybe…I can trust her enough to let her in?_

"I'm sorry," he said softer than a whisper, but loud enough for both Violet and Usopp to hear. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that…"

Tilting her head, Violet smiled slightly and waved her hand dismissingly. "It's alright," she informed him. "Really, I didn't even notice." It was a lie, that much was obvious, but Bartolomeo decided it was good enough to buy.

Clearing his throat, Usopp clapped his hands together to get both of their attention. "Uh, Luffy's here." His long dark finger pointed towards the middle of the area, where the girl stood with both hands on her hips.

"You guys started eating without me?" She sounded hurt, as if offended that the group would start eating lunch even though she was late.

Bartolomeo smiled to see her so alive and full of emotion, even if it was negative. _She's not sick, or at least she doesn't look sick. She looks so…beautiful._

His heart skipped a beat and he pushed himself up, hands and legs shaking. _Do it. Go up to her and ask her. She looks so perfect right now…don't mess this up._ "L-Luffy…" Her name came out weak. _Pitiful! Straighten up and just do it!_ He spoke her name louder, slightly clearer than before. "Luffy."

When he approached her, she twirled around, revealing the soft features of her face, cheeks slightly pink, eyes big and round and wonderful pools of heaven. She blinked, and slowly, she smiled. "Bartolomeo?"

Sniffing, he tried his best not to allow his weak legs to give out under him. The pressure was building, sweat forming and fingers twitching. _Idiot! You look like one big idiot! It's one simple question, just spit it out!_ "Luffy…" he said, whispering as his gaze fell deep into hers. "I, uh…I…"

And then he gave up, too nervous to go through with it. "Are you okay?" His chest felt beyond heavy. _I hate you so much. Why couldn't you just ask her?_ "I was, uh, worried when you went to the health office."

"Oh," she said, nodding. "I'm alright. Just feeling a bit under pressure! But I know how to take care of it now, don't you worry!" When he went to respond, he felt a grip take his wrist, and when he glanced down to see whatever it was, his eyes bulged.

It was Luffy's hand, tugging him along. "Come," she ordered as she pulled him to their own little spot. "I bet I missed out a lot from class, you gotta fill me in, yeah?"

"Y-yeah," he said, face growing redder than ever before. _Luffy…_When they sat, her kneecap touched his own, her elbow pressing into his forearm. It felt thrilling to be so close to her, so…so…_so intimate, even if it isn't exactly consider intimate. _It was the best he could wish for at that moment.

"So, what did I miss?"

* * *

The bell rang, ending lunch, and Bartolomeo helped Luffy gather her notes. "That's about it," he said after handing her a stack of loose pages. "You didn't miss much."

"That's good," she said, grinning softly. "Thanks for helping me."

"No…no problem."

She got up first, brushing off his shorts and glancing down at him slyly. "Come on!" Her hand was offered to him and he took it. Luffy helped him up and tilted her head before twirling around. "Zoro!" she called out, running off towards the boy.

He blinked and watched as Luffy tackled the boy, grabbing his arm and dragging him back towards Bartolomeo. "You gotta wait up for me," she told the boy, who only gave a dull stare back in response.

"Luffy," Usopp called out as he approached them as well. "Before I forget to ask again, you wanna go to the dance with me?"

Bartolomeo's eyes widened in horror and he felt his stomach drop. _WHAT?! _He never took Usopp as a contender for Luffy's affections, yet he hardly knew the boy. _Perhaps he's been eyeing Luffy this whole time! AND THIS DANCE IS HIS CHANCE TO MAKE A MOVE?_

Usopp continued on, oblivious to Bartolomeo's terrified expression. "Vivi and I are going and we wanted to form a group for us who don't have a significant other, you know?"

Luffy quickly nodded her head. "That's such a good idea!" With hands clapping, she added, "and we can invite the others if they're not going with anybody!"

"Yeah," Usopp agreed, smiling. "Well, we'll talk about this later. I gotta get to class now."

Nodding again, Luffy bided her friend goodbye and quickly glanced over to Zoro. "If you're going, you should go with us,"

Zoro frowned. "I don't do dances."

"You should though."

"But I don't."

Luffy frowned. "You're being a weenie."

Zoro's eyes widened, as if offended. "I'm not a weenie."

"You are if you're not going," she retorted before looking over at Bartolomeo. "You'll go with us, right?"

His lips trembled. _Is…is Luffy asking me out to the dance?_ His eyes widened. _She wants me to go with her…well, her group, but her nonetheless! _His sweaty palms clenched up. _This is…_

"Yes," he answered, smiling. "Yes, I'll go."

"Good!" Luffy stated before looking back at Zoro, who was already walking towards fifth period. "See, you're going to be the only weenie that doesn't go to the dance!" Pouting, she gave Bartolomeo a wave before running after the other boy.

Pressing his hand against his chest, Bartolomeo felt his heart, pounding hard and fast. _I didn't do exactly what I planned, but I still ended up going to the dance with Luffy. That's a good first step, I think._

* * *

**To be continued…**

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**Coming up in the next chapter: **Luffy works on her cheer routine and has a talk with Nami regarding the dance and Sanji. Luffy, Ace, Sabo, and Gramps go out to adopt a pet…but it isn't exactly the normal type of pet. The end of section eight (Monday, September 2oth) finally draws to an end.

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**A/N: **Aha! Section eight is almost finished. I believe it will end next chapter, bringing an end to Monday, September 20th. I wasn't expecting the month of September in this story to drag out as long as it did…October will probably start around chapter 3o, and that's when _things _really start to pick up, hur hur hur. The month of November/December is even more eventful, and goodness, what I got planned for February/March will hopefully entertain/surprise you guys. Who knows?

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**Thank you to everybody who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this story. The support is beyond amazing and I'm just honored to have you lovely people reading it. Thanks!**

**I also just checked the view count on this story and wow. Thank you for the 24k plus views! That is more than I could ever ask for. Thank you so much. **

**Responses:**

**Toraffles:** You have a lot of good ideas, and while I want to say if you're on the correct path or not, I won't because I want this to be a surprise. But I will say again, you got some *good* ideas. Thanks for the review!

**Loogoo:** Yeah, and while I personally like the idea of Bartolomeo being attentive like that, I worry if it becomes too OOC. I know I'm already on the OOC train with Law by making him a psycho kidnapper creeper…and yeah, I just hope Bartolomeo doesn't come off too OOC. I know he has that "Senpai notice me vibe" in regards to Luffy in the manga/show, and I'm trying to make him needy and Luffy-centric in this story, so having him attentive makes sense? Yes? Haha… o_o Thanks for the review!

**Nakcabttak2:** You asked for more Bartolomeo, so I hope this chapter is a good start! Of course, there's going to be so much more of him to come in future chapters. Thanks for the review!

**RufinaAsano:** I hope everything is okay with your account/computer if you're having troubles! : ( I'm glad you got a sense of thrill from Law since that was my goal. Thank you so much and you have an awesome day as well! Thanks for the review!

**Luffy's Booty:** First, awesome name, even if it's guest. Second, I will try my best to update on your birthday! I probably will, but I don't want to make any promises. But I most likely will, haha. Happy early birthday if I forget to wish you one on the 15th! Thanks for the review!


	22. Chopper

**Indian Summer| 8.5**

**Luffy's POV**

Her forehead was drenched in sweat and no matter how much she wanted to stop and take a breather, Luffy knew better than to throw off Hancock's practice routine. The coach had them performing it over and over again, and it was obvious to many that she was in a bad mood. _Came into practice late, muttering something about Principle Crocodile…_Frowning, she quickly wiped away the sweat and continued to cheer.

"Keep going!" Hancock screamed, pacing back and forth before the girls. "This _has_ to be perfect! I will not let any of the other sport teams outshine us at the assembly!"

_The assembly…_While Luffy didn't seem too particularly nervous about performing at the football game that upcoming Friday, she was rather concern about the assembly on Wednesday. Unlike with the game where most of the attention would be focused on the players, the assembly made it where the entire audience would be watching her and the other girls. _Watching, judging…_It made her heart pound to even think about it.

"One mistake and that's it!" Hancock snapped, crossing her arms. "I only want professionals here, not babies!"

_But we're just students…_If Luffy had been born louder, such as say, Bonney, she would have voice such thoughts, but she knew better. _Besides, maybe Hancock is right in a way. We should be perfect because we're representing the school as well as the players. They need perfection, right?_

Luffy decided to keep such motivational thoughts alive for the rest of practice. In the end, the girls did manage to perfect the routines for both the assembly and game. She, along with a few of the other girls, even got a compliment from the coach.

"Practice at home," Bonney ordered when the group began to disband. "Hancock will surely take my side if I kick off anybody who slacks off." For some reason, Bonney's stare had landed on Luffy, narrowed and piercing.

A soft voice spoke up behind Luffy when Bonney and her crew left for the lockers. "Um, Luffy?" When she turned around, she found timid Shirahoshi staring at her with those wide eyes, little pools of innocence. "You did a really good job today, I…I like your determination."

Luffy's face lightened up, a smile creeping up on her. "Thank you, Shirahoshi. You did an amazing job as well!" She clapped the girl on her shoulder. "I can barely keep up with you!"

The younger girl blushed, clearly flattered by Luffy's kind words. "You're too nice," she mumbled, clasping her hands together over her chest. A frown began to form. "I couldn't help but notice the looks Bonney was giving you…is everything alright?"

Blinking, Luffy glanced back towards the lockers, scanning for said girl. She was nowhere to be seen, and so Luffy returned her stare to Shirahoshi and shrugged. "I don't know what her problem is, but don't worry."

She looked like she was about to cry. "Oh…if you say so…but m-maybe you should be careful. That girl is really scary."

"Don't worry about me, alright?" Luffy said, more determined than she realized. "I can handle myself when it comes to people like that. But if she ever gives you trouble, just know I got your back."

Shirahoshi went wide eyed at that and her cheeks grew as pink as her hair. "T-thank you, Luffy," she spoke softly. "I…I gotta go. See you later?"

"Sure!" Waving goodbye, she watched the younger girl scurry away. _That was a bit strange. She acted like she was scared of something…I hope everything is alright._

While she wanted to investigate further into Shirahoshi's strange behavior, Luffy knew she had other things to deal with. _Sanji is relying on me to talk to Nami! But more importantly, I need to know Nami's take on things and she's even into that flirt._ Pressing her hands to her hips, Luffy nodded to herself before heading off towards the volleyball court.

The players were cleaning up the court by the time she arrived, and Luffy watched as the coach patted Nami on the back. "You did a great job out there, Nami," the coach said, a gleam in her eyes. "I think you have a natural talent."

"Thank you!" Nami said, voice filled with pride. When she turned around, Luffy waved at her, smiling. "Luffy!" she cheered, running over to her to exchange a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

Nami's expression darkened slightly. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, I think." Luffy took Nami's arm with her own, leading the girl towards the locker rooms to get dressed. "I just need to ask you a few things, okay?"

"Um, sure," Nami agreed. "What is it?"

Luffy smiled. "First, are you going to the dance?" She paused when she felt a tightness in Nami's arms.

"No."

Cocking a brow, she responded with, "Why not? Is it your mom?"

"Yes…she said I'm too young to go to the dances." Nami's expression grew even darken, eyes that were once full of joy and pride now dull and sad. "I tried explaining to her that nothing ever happens at the dances, but she won't have any of it. She told me she's seen the bad side of things like this since she works at the police station…"

"Nami…" Luffy stopped and gave her a hug. "It's okay; she's only looking out for you. And besides, don't feel bad. Dances are dumb."

Her weak eyes meet Luffy's. "Are you going?"

She wanted to say _no_ and she would have until she remembered what Usopp told her earlier. "I'm going with a group…"

"See? You can't say it's dumb and then go." Nami's arm fell from Luffy's as she opened to door to the locker room. "But it's okay. I've learned to live with my mom's overprotectiveness."

"…" Following after Nami, Luffy began to wonder if she should bring up Sanji. _She's not going…and Sanji said he'd just ask another girl out. _A scrawl formed. _That jerk! I completely forgot! Why should I try to force Nami out to the dance if he's not willing to give her all his attention? He's probably not even into her…_ "Well, if your mom magically happens to let you go, you can come with my small group."

Nami nodded. "Alright, but don't get your hopes high."

* * *

She tapped out a tune on her lap, happily looking out the window of her grandfather's SUV. He was driving her and the boys out to the dog pound to adopt a pet. Her heart pounded in excitement.

"How come I never got a pet when I was younger, huh?" Sabo whined from the front passenger's seat. "I recall asking many times for one but you'd always say that the house wasn't meant to handle pets."

"Stop complaining!" Gramps snapped. "You're lucky we're getting one now."

"I want a big dog, like a Boxer or something," Ace stated. "Or maybe a Doberman."

"Luffy gets to pick it out since this is going to be _her _pet," Gramps stated as he pulled into the parking lot. "Don't bully her into getting what you want."

Luffy felt Ace's hard gaze fall on her and she tried her best not to look his way. When the car came to a full stop, she quickly got out and went straight for the entrance. "Come on!" she cried, eager to meet the pooches.

Whines and whimpers filled the air as she ran into the pound, quickly glancing at all the glass cages. She felt bad for them, knowing their fates if they didn't get adopted. _Why can't I just take them all home?_

She felt somebody push past her and watched as her brothers quickly ran over to the bigger dogs. Frowning, she made her way in the opposite direction where all the smaller pets were kept. All of the animals were adorable with big round eyes, and she began to wonder if she could possibly choose one.

Luffy continued all the way towards the back wall, where there stood one cage with only one…_dog? Is that a dog?_ Peering into it, she took a better look, examining its strange ears and antlers. _Antlers…?!_ Blinking, Luffy opened her mouth slightly to gasp. "Come here," she cooed, sticking her fingers down towards the little bundle of fur.

Slowly, the animal peered up at her and sniffed, clearly shy. "I won't hurt you," Luffy whispered. "Come here." She began to wiggle her fingers, hoping that would intrigue the creature.

A couple of minutes passed by and finally the animal decided to approach her, sniffing softly at her fingertips. When it felt brave enough, it allowed her to scratch its ear. "You're so cute," she said. _But what are you?_

"Interested?"

Pulling her hand back in shock, Luffy glanced over to right to see one of the workers smiling down at the animal. "He's a cutie, but nobody wants to take him home since we can't exactly tell what breed of dog is he."

_I don't think he's a dog…_

"But if you're interested, it would mean his life." The worked sent Luffy a soft smile. "He's a sweetheart, as you can tell. Shy, yes, and sometimes he gets in a bad mood, but overall, a very loving creature."

"I…I think I want him," Luffy said as she returned her fingers to the animal's ear. "He seems to like it when I scratch him here."

"Luffy, come look at this huge dog over here!" Ace called out from across the room, eyes big with excitement.

"No need," Luffy called back. "I already found one!"

* * *

Sabo frowned at the animal as Luffy carried him into the house. "What is it?" he asked, clearly confused yet intrigued. "Is it even a dog?"

"Dogs don't have antlers," Gramps muttered. At first, he was hesitant about Luffy picking him, but after enough begging, he gave in. "Maybe it's a raccoon?"

A look on annoyance seemed to spread across the animal's face and Luffy couldn't help but laugh. "No, I don't think he's that either. But it doesn't matter because he's family now."

"What are you going to name him?" Ace asked. "Give him something badass like Maximillian or Killer or Spike or—"

Cutting him off, she simply said, "Chopper."

"Chopper?" Ace mouthed, clearly not impressed. "Ugh. That's lame."

"No it isn't," she shot back, hugging Chopper close to her chest. Chopper's round eyes glanced up at her. "You're part of the family now, alright? I'm going to take care of you."

And oddly enough, Chopper seemed to have smiled.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next chapter: **Alone afterschool with Trafalgar! An update on Raven! Law's crazed obsession starts to take a sick turn!

* * *

**Thank you to everybody who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this story! You're truly amazing and I'm honored to have your support! Thanks!**

**Responses:**

**Toraffles: **Yeah, Bartolomeo got so much attention last chapter. But next chapter will be heavily focused on Law! A hint? Hmm…This person has already been mentioned so far in the story. That's the best I can give. Thanks for the review!

**Nakcabttak2:** Kid…he's planning something alright, but the question is if his plans are of good intention? He has a huge role down the road in this story. And yeah, Law is also planning something, much worse than anything Kid could plan. Thanks for the review!

**StariChanx:** Hey! Thank you so much! Well, I do have an interaction planned out, eventually. That's so cool that you'd want to be a detective! A life like that must be filled with adventure and crazy stuff. Thanks for the review!


	23. After school with Law, Pt2

**Indian Summer| 9.1 – September 21****st****, Tuesday**

**Luffy's POV**

"So, are you going to tell me?"

Sanji looked to her with eyes wide. He had run her down after school as she went towards her anatomy classroom for tutoring. It wasn't the first time he asked that question that day. First, he had hounded her for answers when she attended cooking and she stayed quiet, not giving into his pestering.

During lunch he grew even more impatient, but she still stayed strong.

Frowning ever so slightly, Luffy shook her head. "I already told you this morning: Nami can't go. Stop bothering me about." _It's not my place to talk about what Nami can and can't do. If he's so bothered by it, he can go ask her __**himself.**_

Sanji's hand took her forearm, stopping her from continuing any farther. "But _why?_ Is it because of her mom? Or is it because of something else?"

She huffed, pulling her arm back. "Sanji!" she whined before stomping her foot. "I'm not some messenger and I'm not going to answer for Nami. Go ask her yourself if you're so uptight about it!"

His expression lightened, eyes quickly blinking once. "I did ask her the other day and she gave the same answer, but didn't give a good enough reason…"

"Her mom saying _'no'_ isn't good enough?"

He shook his head.

Crossing her arms, Luffy knew the boy wasn't going to give up and she had a tutor session to attend. "You need to understand her mom is super strict about these sorts of events, so of course Nami isn't going to ask to go if it means getting her mom mad. Think about, Sanji!" _He's too persistent for his own good. No wonder Nami's mom doesn't like him that much. _Hell, not many mothers liked the flirt.

_Especially when he's even flirted with some of those mothers!_

She pressed her hands on her hips, trying to make herself appear more confident. _I need to shoo him away so I can go study!_ "You can either stay home on the night of the dance…or go with another person."

Sanji shrugged. "Well, I got somebody in mind to ask—"

"_WRONG ANSWER!_" Luffy snapped, striking him hard across the arm. It angered her to see him so oblivious to his own actions. _Why does he bother with Nami if he's just going to take another girl? He makes no sense at all!_

After wincing from the attack, Sanji went to respond, but Luffy spoke first. "You're being a big…big…big jerk weenie face!"

His eyes dulled. "_Big jerk weenie face? _Really?"

It wasn't the best insult she ever threw, but it was good enough to get her anger across. _And why should I even bother to deal with this? He's clearly not aware of what he's doing and if he thinks I'll stand by while he leads Nami and other girls on at the same time, he's got another thing coming._ Pointing one long slender finger in his face, she gave him her best glare. "Now you listen to me, Sanji! I'm not going to allow you to continue these mind games, especially with Nami! You better watch your back if you continue to walk down this road!" With that said, she turned around and started once again to walk to her anatomy room.

"Mind games? What…?" He sounded confused.

"_**Goodbye,**_Sanji!"

_Just leave it at that, give him something to think about. Maybe he'll wise up and stop acting like a fool. _Sanji was a dear friend of hers, but sometimes…_sometimes he even angers me with his lustful ways._

Luffy just couldn't understand why he said and did the things he did, like as if he wasn't fully aware of the harm he could cause. _What if Nami actually does like Sanji, and finds out he took another girl to the dance? That would devastate her…but only if she likes him. Does she…?_

Naturally, she wanted to know the answer to such a question but it felt odd to her to ask it. _Even though we're close, I don't think I could possibly ask such a thing. It would make things…weird._

Luffy shrugged, determining it all to be too much trouble for her own good. She saw no point in stressing herself out over Sanji's nonsense and decided that all she had to do was to have Nami's back in case things ever did go south. Of course, she would always have Sanji's back as well, but in _that_ particular situation, she felt he was in the wrong.

_Either way, I shouldn't focus on it. What I should focus on is anatomy._

By the time she reached the classroom door, she winced while checking the time on her phone. _Ten minutes late…no thanks to Sanji!_ Not bothering to knock first, she pulled the door open, quickly pushing herself through and blinking when she saw all the empty desks. _Am I the only one here?_

Glancing towards the front, she saw Trafalgar sitting at his desk, dully flipping through a textbook. He had his cheek resting in his palm and when he looked her way, she made sure to give him a small smile.

"Sorry for being late, Mr. Trafalgar!" she said as she crossed the room, taking the seat in front of his desk. "Is anybody else coming?"

He shook his head, slowly closing his book. "I doubt it," he said coolly, eyes glued on her.

He seemed _different_ yet Luffy couldn't exactly tell why so.

"Oh," she said after taking out her notebook. "Well, what are we going to go over today?"

Leaning back in his chair, Luffy watched as he tucked his hands behind his head. His sleeves were rolled up and she noticed the dark ink. _I think he's the only teacher I've seen with tattoos…_

Smirking slightly, he said, "You tell me. What is it you're struggling with?"

Glancing down at her notes, she searched for any information she didn't exactly understand. Nothing seemed too confusing and she didn't really have any difficulties with understanding recent lectures. "Oh, I'm not sure…" she finally said before looking back up him. "You usually pick the topic."

Trafalgar nodded. "I do, but that's when there are other students. You're more…advanced than the others, you realize that, don't you?"

Blinking, Luffy shrugged. She didn't feel _advanced…_Sure her grades were higher than the average, but certainly she wasn't the top student. "I don't think so," she mumbled.

Trafalgar arose from his seat, turning around to approach the white board. "Let's just review, then." Picking up a marker, he began to jolt down notes from a previous lecture. Pausing, but not looking her way, he asked, "Are you going to that dance?"

"Hmm?" Luffy glanced up from writing. "What?"

"The dance…" He cocked his head back enough where she could see his left eye along with the bridge of his nose. "Are you going?"

"Oh, yes."

She watched as his lips twitched, a smirk quickly taking over.

"Are you going with somebody, hmm?" His voices sounded cheerful enough, as if he were just making small chat, yet something felt off to her.

"Just with some friends," she answered before writing down more of the notes. "I don't have anybody…_special_ to go with." Luffy would have said 'boyfriend,' but it felt weird to say that to a teacher. "Are you?"

While he had started writing again, he stopped once more, almost as if he were surprised. "I was asked to chaperon, but I don't think I'll be free that night."

The conversation died at that.

* * *

**Law's POV**

She asked him many questions that night, even if she was shy to do so at the beginning of the tutoring session. He enjoyed talking to her, answering whatever she was curious about. Her sweet innocent eyes ever so wide and glued to his own…

Luffy wore that cheer uniform again.

It made his heart beat faster than normal. He always took note to when it happened, that moment when he went from calm to puzzled to excited. And somehow, for some reason, it was always do to her presence.

"Miss Monkey," he said softly as she began to pack up her things. "Will you do me a favor?" She glanced at him, confused at first, but her expression softened, a smile forming.

"Yes?"

_Her voice sounds sweet._

He retrieved a stack of posters from under his desk. "Can you hang these around the classroom for me while I grade these papers?" The principle had informed him that having such images in his classroom would _motivate the students._ Law, himself, thought it stupid, but he knew it was best to do what that man wanted.

_He can become a pain…_

The girl nodded, dropping her things on a desk and approaching his. Her hands brushed against his own when she took them. His body tensed.

"Should I use tape?"

He pushed the tape forward without answer.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "I'll hang all of 'em up for you, Mr. Trafalgar!"

Law nodded, watching as she twirled around and headed for the first wall. He took a seat and began to grade test papers, eyes begging every other second to look her way. _You're playing a dangerous game…_

He looked.

And smiled, but she didn't notice.

The girl hummed a song to herself and soon he found his foot tapping to the beat. Grading came easy then and when he finished, he pushed the papers aside before turning around to see her climbing up on a chair.

"I'm going to hang one right up here, above you!" she said happily. "That way whenever we look at you, we'll see the poster."

Law nodded and watched as she scurried up the chair, standing tall behind him. He eyes instantly took noticed of _something_ and even when he knew he shouldn't stare, he kept looking.

And the chair creaked as she leaned forward, trying her best to tape the poster up nice and neat. She wobbled, gasping out when it appeared that she was going to fall over.

Upon instinct, he shot up and caught her, arms wrapping tightly around her soft body. His eyes were wide, blood pounding. He could feel her heart beating hard.

"Oh," she mumbled quietly, eyes fluttering as she looked up at him. "OH!" she muttered again, squirming when she realized the position she was in.

He wanted to let her go, but he savored the feel for a moment longer. When he did release her, she took a step back, face red.

"I'm so sorry!" she said in a panic. "I didn't mean to fall…thank you, though!"

He fought back that smile. "You should be more careful."

Luffy nodded and after a second, began to rub her elbow. "I think I cut myself…" She brought two fingers forward, a light stain of blood upon them. "Oh no!" she cried out, touching her elbow again. "I think I scraped it!"

Law took her arm without any words, narrowing his eyes to get a good look at the wound. "It's just a scratch," he said before letting go and turning towards his desk. "But you should cover it up now and clean it when you get home." His hands fished around through his top drawer, pulling out a box of band aids. "Here."

"You're like a doctor," she said, taking it. "You've been…taking care of me lately, it seems." Her eyes were casted downward.

"I care for my students."

Even though she didn't look up at him, he saw a smile play around with her lips. Law wondered what it meant. "Be careful," he ordered. Fear took over at the thought of her getting hurt.

_Somebody like her is precious…_

_Can't get hurt…_

He couldn't help his eyes from widening, mouth growing dry.

_The only person who should have the option of hurting her is…me…_

Law quickly regained composure when he saw her looking back up at him. "Go home and rest."

The girl blinked as she stood still, as if she wanted to say something but didn't.

_I…I want to touch her again…_

Luffy nodded before collecting her things. "Bye…and thanks again!" she said.

And she left.

And Law allowed himself to breathe, air gasping out past his mouth. _The game is intensifying and she isn't even aware!_

"_You're a sick man!"_ The words shot through his mind like a bullet, hell bent on shattering his happiness. Law brought his hand to the nape of his throat, clutching his skin softly.

"_How could you do that? You monster!"_ His eyes fluttered shut, mouth growing wide into a grin.

"_Thank you, Mr. Trafalgar…"_ Luffy's voice was the sweetest of all in his mind. She did things to him…stirred up mixed emotions. But most importantly, she gave him hope.

_I think she might win._

* * *

It was nightfall by the time he reached his farmhouse, an old broken down shack in the middle of nowhere. His grandfather had given it to him upon his death bed, and while at first Law dreaded the thought of taking care of such property, he soon found use of it.

Pebbles crunched under the weight of his car as he pulled up into the drive. Law quickly turned his car off and shifted to reach over his shoulder, hands grabbing the bag he prepared for tonight.

Getting out of the car, he sighed at the hot clingy air. _I wish winter would hurry on up…_

His front door creaked when he pushed it open after a fight with the locks. _They're rusty…maybe I should have them replaced?_ Just another task on his list.

He tossed the bag onto a dining table, strolling lazily over to the fridge. The cool air radiating from it when he opened it made him smile. For a moment, he pondered over what he would prepare. He had an assortment of many different meats and vegetables, including some microwavable dishes, but Law was in no mood for microwave.

Shrugging, he decided he would cook up some macaroni. _Nice and easy._ A moment later, he had the stove top on, fire blazing red. He dumped the box of pasta into a pot and added other needed ingredients. Soon after that, he found himself humming the same song Luffy had.

When it appeared that the food was finished cooking, he carefully dumped it into two bowls and proceeded to plop a spoon in each. Smiling at his work proudly, he carried them off, out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and straight for the basement.

The door—locked, mind you—gave him a little trouble as he tried to balance both bowls in one hand while opening the door with another. It opened smoothly and he continued on his way, making sure to be careful as he walked down a stairwell.

When his shoes met concrete, he quickly placed the bowls down on a nearby table, one he didn't need to see in the dark. Soon he flipped the lights on and smiled down at the woman tied to a chair in the middle of the basement.

She stayed exactly the same as he left her the previous night: bound, gagged, and raw from crying.

The woman perked up to the sound of him, body tensing. She tried to move which only caused him to smile and laugh.

_She does that every time I visit. When will she learn?_

And of course, she began to scream, voice muffled by the ball gag. The chair creaked as she thrashed about and Law crossed his arms to wait for her to finish.

It took a few minutes for her to give up, much quicker than her other fits from previous nights. "Now that you're done," he began as he took a step towards her, "I brought you some food." He pulled the cloth that covered her eyes off of her, revealing round and red pools of fear. "There we are…"

Anger flashed through those eyes, reflecting his smirk right back to him.

Quickly, he pulled the ball-gag from her mouth, making sure to snap his hand back fast enough. The first time he did as such, she attempted to bite him; of course, he punished her for doing such a thing, but he knew not to risk earning a bite mark. _People will start asking unneeded questions, and I have no time for such things._

Her breath came out ragged, uneven and heavy. The sniffing followed after. Then the questions. "Why…why are you doing this? I never did…did anything to you!" The sounds of her pulling against her restraints filled the small basement.

Law rolled his eyes at her attempts. "Calm down," he ordered before turning around for the food. "I made you dinner, and can I just for _once_ have a decent meal with you?"

The look of disgust she sent him puzzled him. _I bring her food yet she looks at me like that?_ He took one of the bowls and approached the woman. Fiddling around for the spoon, he glanced down at her and said, "Open."

She didn't do it.

His expression dulled. "We've been through this before: This is the only way I can feed you. Now, open."

Her gaze fell down at the food, hunger clearly running through her mind. Slowly, her lips parted, allowing him to spoon-feed her like a parent would spoon-feed their child. After most of the food was eaten, he took to his own bowl, sitting down across the basement. He watched her while he ate and she only stared back.

"It's good isn't it?" he asked her.

She didn't answer.

A frown formed. "This is one of the reasons why we didn't work out," he informed her dully, annoyed by her lack of participation in the conversation. "A relationship demands communication, but you're lacking in that department."

"You're fucking insane."

Law only shrugged. "You're quick to say cruel things as well, but I was willing to accept that. I was willing to put in the effort." He took a spoonful of the yellow goop and swallowed. "I didn't ask to get hurt…" His gaze fell down at his food, brows lowering as the anger began to pick at him. "I thought…I thought we had something."

Once again, she kept quiet, but when he glanced up at her, he met a cold hard gaze.

"You _had_ such pretty dark hair," he said softly. It had angered him to discover a few days ago that it was all a farce. _Hair dye…to hide her blue hair… _"You lied about that. You lie about a lot of things, don't you?"

She licked her lips. "Please…let me go. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"Lies…"

"No," her voice became panicked as he stood up, tossing the bowl aside on the table. "Please, I'm begging you!" She started to thrash about in her chair again when he went over to the hose.

She hated the hose, and he knew that.

"You stink," he told her coldly, kneeling to pull the lever down. The sound of water gushing through the green tubing filled his ears. He took hold of the nozzle and got up to approach her. "You haven't bathed in a few days…"

"No," she cried when he fumbled around with her cuffs, pulling her up when she was undone. "It's cold!"

"I don't care." His grip on her tightened. "You deserve this."

Taking a few steps back, he pointed the nozzle straight at her and squeezed, icy water shooting out and striking her. She shrieked but he didn't care. He felt numb, watching her fall to the floor and cry out. Maybe, if things had worked out for them, he would had cared.

_She lost the game. She deserves this._

Law thought of Luffy then, imagining that soft smile. It warmed his heart.

When everything was finished, Raven's body shivering, he returned her back to the chair, locking her cuffs back in place. He took his time drying her with the towel. Naturally, he didn't want her to die out due to hypothermia. _That wouldn't be any fun._ Law needed the woman to stay around for a while.

_At least until this Friday._

He left the towel on top of her shoulders as he pulled away from her, making sure to quickly caress her cheek. He proceeded to return the ball-gag back in her mouth, muffling out her protests. "I have something fun planned for us this Friday," he said softly, picking up the bowls and heading towards the stairs. "I'm going to get to know you."

Her muffled cries erupted out but he only shook his head as he flipped the light switch off, walking up the stairs afterwards, and locking up the basement door.

_I'm a good guy for taking care of her. I've done a lot for this women; provided her food and clean hygiene…she should be grateful._

Law smirked.

_She's a user. She hurt me…hurt me…she did._

_I'm a good guy…_

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next chapter: **Missing reports about Raven are sent to a detective. A case is started with no leads. Identity of Raven is finally revealed.

* * *

**Thank you so much to everybody who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this story! It means so much to me and I really appreciate the support!**

**Responses:**

**Toraffles:** Your reviews always make me smile! O, I'm not saying anything more about the mystery potential love interest, but I feel like expectations might be too high, haha. This isn't meant to be a major plot twist, but more of an "O, that's interesting…" But I'm loving the enthusiasm about it! YES! The Law obsession is growing, finally! *evil laughter* And yes! I did realize it was you! One my most loyal readers! Thank you so much for the support and reviews!

**StariChanx:** Yes, more Chopper scenes are sure to come! He's too adorable not to have scene time, haha! Thanks for the review!

**Kanji855:** Thank you!

**Magic Morgana: **Lol, and thank you so much!

**Neko11:** Yeah, I totally get what you're saying! I want to add in as many characters as possible into this story and make it work! So I'm glad you're enjoying it! Luffy's fighting abilities will be put to the test soon…I won't say more, but just know she's going to get fed up with somebody which might result in a fight! :O Thank you so much!

**Itachi:** Thank you so much for the kind words! I didn't realize how popular the Marco and Luffy thing was! I might need to add in more scenes with them…*evil laughter*

**Nathalie8756:** I'm sorry I disappeared! The schedule is a little bit different. I'll try to update this story (along with all my other ones) at least once a week. Yes, Raven is still alive…at this point. Thank you for the review!

**Hetalia Purple Bunny: **Yeah, Law's got some issues in this story. Um, well…It's hard to give a clear answer without blabbing the plot. She will end up with somebody, but it gets complicated along the way. That doesn't really answer your question, but it's the best I can do right now, haha. Thanks for the review!


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